Introduction to Quilt Making

Sat 6 May 10am - 5pm
& Sun 7 May 11am - 5pm

Join us for a two day introductory workshop and learn how to make your very own quilt. Quilting is a wonderfully therapeutic past time that encourages playfulness with colour, shape and stitch. We encourage sustainability and a zero waste approach to sewing here at CSSC, and this is the perfect way to use up all those odds and ends of fabric, or to epicycle old clothes into a meaningful heirloom textile. 

Led by Stitchery Founder Cassandra Belanger, this is a 2-day, in-depth introduction to quilting. The course is intended to equip you with a comprehensive set of basic skills that you can develop and apply to quilting and patchwork. Students will be walked through the process of making a quilted wall hanging or cushion cover with sustainability in mind. We’ll introduce you to the tools, fabrics, threads and how to use second hand materials. You’ll learn how to use your own creative thinking to develop a patchwork pattern, you’ll be taught how to layer it up with the wadding and backing fabric, basting together the layers, quilting by both hand and machine and finally the quilt binding to finish it off. You will be encouraged to develop a practice of zero waste sewing.

This is a Beginner level course, which means it's suitable for those with basic knowledge of how to use a sewing machine. No quilting or patchwork skills are necessary. If you’ve never used a sewing machine but would be interested in taking this workshop please get in touch as we may be able to arrange an introductory lesson to the sewing machine ahead of the workshop. We have a Janaome 230DC computerised (with speed control) sewing machine available for each student; although you can bring your own if you like.

Outcomes:

• An understanding of how to make a quilt; and the confidence to go on and try more.
• A quilted wall hanging or cushion.
• An understanding of how to make quilts that consider the impact on people and the planet.
• An understanding of zero waste sewing.

Topics Covered:

• Sewing machine techniques for quilting and patchwork
• Geometric patchwork blocks (half square triangles, squares, rectangles)
• Choosing fabrics
• Working from second hand fabrics
• Choosing thread and wadding
• Layering up
• Basting
• Hand and machine quilting
• Binding a quilt

More Info:

• Tea and coffee are provided but participants should bring their own lunch and utensils
• All of our classes are suitable for over 16s, younger crafters may be accommodated if accompanied by a participating adult but please contact us before booking
• If the workshop you were looking at is fully booked drop us an email and we’ll add you to the waiting list. We will add extra dates to our most popular workshops too, join the mailing list to be the first to know