Prickly Piecers Make Kaleidoscopes

Today we are having a class on Ricky Tims' Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts with 12 students at the Fire Station in Chandler, AZ. This class is right in my backyard! 5 minutes from home no less. Enjoy these photos...

We have used Ricky's Kool Kaleidoscope DVD along with a Power Point presentation that I have developed for today's class. an 18" square of freezer paper is used for the template and a strata has been created used varied strips of color and patterns for visual appeal. The quilt sare all wonderful and very different!

The Quilt Show Additions

I posted more quilts to www.thequiltshow.com with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. Here are the quilts, but be sure to visit them at The Quilt Show.

The first one is from a class I took at Road to California in January with Melinda Bula. She's a great teacher, vey supportive of her students.

The second piece is called "Tucson" and is done from a photograph I took at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona on one of my many trips there. I used an Electic Quilt fabric sheet, my HP wide-bed printer, and my personal photo to make this original piece of art. It' a sample for a class I teach called "Crop & Colorize" in which I teach how to use the fabric sheets, printers and your photos to make masterpieces. This one is simple yet very effective. I used my own hand-dyed fabric for the border to further personalize the piece. Sharon Brooks added minimal quilting.

Coolidge Kool Kaleidoscope Class

Today I taught the Ricky Tims Kool Kaleidoscope Class in Coolidge, Arizona. I'm including photos of some of the kaleidoscopes in progress so that their beauty can be admired.

Queen Valley, AZ Convergence Quilt Class

It's Convergence Quilts again. Today, we are in Queen Valley, Arizona with the Scrap Rats. Ricky Tims' quilt classes continue to be great fun for Arizona quilters. Here are some photos of the quilts in progress.

Applique on Kaleidoscope

I'm adding applique to my newest kaleidoscope quilt. I've started the blocks for a blue-on-blue kaleidoscope and will change this kaleidoscope quilt by making it larger size. I'm adding more borders and "ramping it up" a little.

I will be using a 1.8" width and 1.8"stitch length on my Bernina. I'm using a #20 (open toed-applique) foot with a Double Blanket Stitch #330) for the applique. Steam A Seam holds the circle onto the fabric so it doesn't slip around on me.

Arizona Quilters Guild

It's the annual leadership meeting for the Arizona Quilter's Guild, where we have been invited to display and promote our Traveling Teacher classes. This is a volunteer program where teachers travel across the state to teach members a variety of quilt-related classes. AQG subsidizes the offerings and they are available at a nominal cost to members. I've been in the program for 7 years now and have offered a variety of lectures and classes through the years. Topics have included Copyright 101, Judy Sisneros' Nine Patch Pizzazz, Barbara Randle's Museum Bag, and Organizing Your Quilt Studio. I also offered a class on Understanding the Quilt Show World. The newest class offering for me is Ricky Tims' Kool Kaleidoscope class.

Kool Kaleidoscope Sample for the Class

Hula Girls Quilt

Road to California's Melinda Bula's Class

Road to California is one of my favorite quilt events and I attend regularly. This year was no exception and I took a class with Melinda Bula. She's an excellent teacher. The class was her New Rose. Here's my version.

RIcky Tims Quilt Retreat

We're back in LaVeta, Colorado, home of Ricky Tims, where we're going to attend his Quilt Retreat. This is my fourth year to attend, aren't I the lucky one? I highly recommend this five-day retreat which is held in an independent study format. Mornings begin with a topic of the day to explore and words of wisdom from Ricky himself. Then it's off to quilt and make magic for the remainder of the day. This is a week of pampering at its very best. The food is superb, I've always stayed at the LaVeta Inn so the accomodations are fine, and you quilt as long and as late as you wish. The big plus is that Ricky is available for advice and assistance for the entire day. I certainly enjoy going every year.

The quilt pictured here is my friend Barbara's Kaleidoscope from the previous year. You can learn more about Ricky's retreat on his website www.rickytims.com.