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Hot Ribbon special for Williston quilters, April 26 and 27, 2003

I have developed a couple of special projects for folks in the Williston quilt guild. It wasn't easy since you are all strangers, and I don't know your skills and interests, and the techniques are new to everyone. But I think I have succeeded at last! I think these projects will be easy enough for everyone and will allow more adventuresome quilters to add there own creative touches.

Look at the Introduction to Hot Ribbon Art page, if y ou haven't already

Standard tools and supplies for all Hot Ribbon projects:

Tools and supplies (be sure to put your name on them):

A Clover mini-iron
A heavy mug to park the iron in while it's hot
A cutting surface and pressing surface (a June Tailor combination, 13" square or 13" x 20" would be good).
A Bear Thread Applique Pressing sheet or something very similar (Teflon and translucent enough to trace through)
Optional: a piece of regular window glass about 6" square or larger
Steam a Seam2 bonding sheets or other fusible material (sew through type, if you think you will launder it)
A Glue stick
A sharp pair of small scissors for precision cuts
A larger pair of scissors for cutting fabric backed by fusible web and paper
A rotary cutter
A couple of grids. There should be a variety of sizes available in the classroom (6" squares, 12" squares, 15" squares, and 6" x 24"), but they are needed just briefly, and you don't need to bring all the sizes yourself.
A sewing machine is not needed unless making a project which can take a lot of laundering (use a fusible material which can be sewn through).
Hot Ribbon (not available in stores yet; I will bring it with me. You might plan to spend $10 to $15 for ribbon.

Optional Book: My new 36-page book "Introduction to Hot Ribbon Art" (about $14.00) gives the Glory Circle project (for Sunday class) and many
other ideas. I'll either bring it with me or wholesale it at Sylvia's.

There should also be available for the whole class to use:

2 or 3 regular, large irons and ironing boards
2 or 3 sewing machines
Some big cutting mats

Fabric
See the individual projects. Sylvia's quilt shop knows about these projects and will help you choose fabrics.

Saturday morning class, April 26

Two trees for a landscape quilt

This will be a small project to get acquainted with hot ribbon possibiliites. You'll make two trees with Hot Ribbon branches and twigs reaching out to each other to make a sort of a web. You might include a fence or other details. You'll work on the Teflon sheet so the project can be lifted off later to be attached to a background scene using your own of nature-based fabrics. No two projects will be alike. You can even bring a photo of specific trees to copy. (Who knows? It might be the start of a masterpiece wall hanging!)

Fabric:

Scraps of a grayish-white fabric which suggests birch or aspen trees OR scraps of a gray-brown fabric to suggest other types of deciduous trees.
A sheet of Steam-a-Seam 2, or your favorite fusible.
A Bear Thread Applique sheet.
Hot Ribbon will be provided (some at no charge to get you started; be prepared to purchase some ribbon to finish the project)

If you have a stash of nature fabrics (suggesting grass, water, sky, hills, snow, etc.), bring them and we'll talk about creating a background, but you won't have time to do that in class. We'll also have some fabric on loan from the quilt shop to experiment with.

See Hot Ribbon Stained Glass page for an example of making a Hot Ribbon and applique design which can be lifted off and repositioned.

Saturday afternoon class, April 26

Christmas Table Runner

This table runner is about 14" x 46" and features a string of lights on a pine needle or holly background. On each end is a cluster of Christmas tree ornaments.

Fabric:

1/3 yard of green fabric (see notes below)
A 9" x 12" sheet of Steam-a-Seam2 or your favorite brand of fusible web (no-sew type if you don't think you will wash the project; sew-through type if you think you will want it to be washable.)
A variety of scraps (batiks in bright colors are ideal) for the lights and balls. Or a fat quarter of a fabric which has a sequence of bright colors, such as the Aurora Collection from RJR. Or you can trade scraps with friends at the class. I'll also bring some fabric to share.

Choose the borders, backing, binding, and optional tassels later.

Simple version:
Find a background fabric which looks like holly or pine needles of a Christmas tree. Use bold geometric prints for the balls.

Fancier (and more educational) version:
Decorate the background fabric with holly or pine needles made from the ribbon. Decorate your own balls. That will give you experience molding the ribbon into a variety of shapes.

More original version:
Add some other ornaments, such as stars (they are very easy), bells, bows, angels, etc. I'll bring some designs, or you can make your own, copying real ornaments or Christmas cards. If you e-mail me, we can work together to plan a fancier runner. You can keep going on this design as long as you want, adding people's names to ornaments, adding strings of garlands, etc. and might end up with a masterpiece!

How hard is Hot Ribbon?

Hot Ribbon is new to everyone, so we are all "beginners." But some of you will find it very easy, while others may feel awkward. It will depend on your manual dexterity and confidence. If you have done hand sewing, painting, ceramics, and crafts (or if you are dental hygienist or have another career where you do skilled things with your hands) you'll probably catch on fast. If you have arthritis or other problems, don't get too ambitious.

Tip: Short, straight lines are easier than curves, and irregular shapes are easier than perfect circles. If you think you'll have trouble, do the easier Glory Circle project I am teaching on Sunday (below).

Alternate project: A runner with leaves and vines.

Instead of making the bulb shapes a variety of colors, make them all green and call them leaves! Use the same leaf shape to make petals for the flowers.

Super Sixteen class on Sunday, April 27

Before lunch, you'll make 16 Woodpile blocks from Sizzling Quilts from a Simple Block.

After lunch, you'll experiment with a lot of different ways to arrange them into a wall hanging. Here's one way:

Here are some others:

You need sewing machines and usual sewing supplies for this class. For supplies and fabric, go to the Super Sixteen instructions. Also see Choosing Fabrics for tips. I will bring some kits and spare strips with me in case you need help picking fabrics.

Woodpile trunk show at noon

Whether you are taking the Super Sixteen class or not, you can join in the trunk show to see a lot of things that can be done with Woodpile blocks. See Sizzling Quilts from a Simple Block for a look at the general technique and some of the variations.

Experiment with Hot Ribbon too

Also Sunday afternoon, you can take a little time and experiment with Hot Ribbon if you didn't get a chance to take a class Saturday. Supplies will be furnished.

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