Beginning Free Motion Machine Quilting If you are just beginning your adventure in free motion machine quilting and already know how to layer a quilt and use your walking foot, this is the class that will introduce you into the basic concepts of free motion work. Learn to sit right, use the right needles and threads for your style, and how to move the quilt and run the machine to get smooth even stitches and some interesting freehand designs you can use right away on your first project. A simple marked design will also be covered. Take the stress out of free motion and learn the fun that this skill will give you and all the quilts you will be able to finish once you lower your feed dogs! 6 hours. 20 students.

Perfecting the Stipple Stitch This class will help you perfect the stipple stitch in machine quilting with hands-on help and suggestions, lots of ideas to help you tackle design areas and stitch them well, suggestions for hand and body positions for the best results, learning exercises, and much more. Bring a project ready to do background stippling and see your work improve dramatically! 3 hours, 20 students. Some free motion experience necessary.

"The Circle of Life" The spiral motif is found in many ancient cultures and is a great addition to your machine quilting repertoire of designs. Explore how to create it, modify it, integrate it into your quilting, no matter what your design style. Learn a sprial wreath, and new Celtic Bubbles too! 3 or 6-hour class, 20 students maximum - Experienced beginner and above.

"Fancy Feathers and Frilly Backgrounds" This two-day class first explores designing and quilting feathers, both marked and freehand. Be an artist with your feathers and create something special, a one-of-a-kind. The second day explores various background machine quilting techniques, including Dianeshiko, echo quilting, Bouncing Bananas, stippling, and other motifs useful for background fills. Play with fine threads and colors and finish a small piece in the workshop. For intermediate and above. 20 students.

"Bouncing Bananas and More" An exciting new freehand technique that creates texture, depth, and movement either as a design itself or as a background "fill." Learn the basic banana shape and how to travel with pivot, stack, and banana-ing around your design. Personalize it or develop your new background motif in this class. 20 students maximum; 3 or 6-hour workshop. Intermediate and above.

"Echo Feathers" Are you "feather challenged"? Traditional feathers too difficult with all that backtracking, yet you don't like the "look" of the easier continuous line feathers on your more traditional quilts? This is the class for you! Learn how to adapt any traditional feather design with my easy method to achieve a look that's elegant, tailored, complex, yet so much faster and easier. Hard to believe? Take this class and open a door into a new world of machine quilted feathers the new way! Free motion machine quilting experience necessary. 20 students maximum; 6-hour workshop. Intermediate and above.

"Leafy Greens" Organic leaf designs are a wonderful addition to any style of machine quilting. Learn some basic leaves and fronds and where and how to use them in your quilting, no matter what the style you want to enhance, from tiny leaves to replace stippling, large fronds for drama, and new "Angel Wings." 20 students maximum; 3 or 6-hour workshop. All levels.

The Fine Art of Background Quilting Sometimes the backgrounds may be the most stunning part of the quilting designs, or be used as a design by themselves. Learn a sampling of designs and techniques and improve your overall free-motion skills. Backgrounds such as Headbands, Bouncing Bananas©, "Diane-Shiko"© , Ripple Stipple, Folding Towels, and other designs are included. Thread choices and colors discussed to make your quilting look the best it can be. Learn to be "boss" of your sewing machine! Some free motion experience necessary. 6-hours.

Tips and Tricks for Free Motion Quilting   Have you learned the basics and now want to play with some ideas for quilting all those tops yourself on your home machine? Graduate from that walking foot or sending your quilts out, and learn new ways to quilt with free motion techniques, solve some basic problems with ergonomics, machine control, tension and stitch quality and consistency. No project, simply work on a small techniques sampler and enlarge your quilting horizons. For experienced beginners and above.20 students maximum, One or two-day class. Free motion machine quilting experienced required.

The Fine Art of Echo Quilting Most of the techniques in free motion quilting depend on echo quilting to enhance them, create them, and to make them work. Start with a marked design and learn how to echo quilt around it, then work on freehand motifs and even straight line fills. Your quilting will go to a new level if you learn how to echo quilt and where to include it in your designs. This is an intermediate and above class; 3-hour, 20 students maximum.

Diane's Fees and Requirements for Workshops