Lectures & Workshops

Lecture (In person or via Zoom)

Demystifying Panel Quilts (Workshop Available-See Below!)

Duration: 60-75 minutes

• Design tips: the role of color and scale of motifs
• What makes and breaks panel quilt designs
• My process as a designer
• My process as a quilter
• The [simple] math involved
• Straight vs. Pieced Borders: when and how to use them
• Trunk Show

Lecture (In person or via Zoom)

The Winning Triad – Contrast, Repetition, and Light. How to successfully use this triad to create stunning quilts.

Duration: 60-75 minutes

Learn how contrast (of colors, values, and scale) affects the final quilt; how repetition can be the difference between a static and a dynamic quilt; and how light can sharpen or blur the quilt design. Quilt photos and a trunk show illustrate my approach to quilt design.

Whether you like quilts made with a collection or scrappy quilts, this information will guide you as you audition fabrics for a project. It will also give you the confidence to replace a fabric you are not crazy about when working with a kit, or when going through your own stash. The lecture focuses less on theory and more on solving real issues we all encounter when selecting fabrics for a project.

Lecture (In person or via Zoom)

Following the Thread: My Unexpected Journey as a Published Quilt Designer.

Duration: 60-75 minutes

What begins as a love of quilting can sometimes lead to places we never imagined. In this inspiring and entertaining lecture, I share the unexpected path that took me from passionate quilter to published quilt designer, author, editor, teacher, and industry professional.

Through stories, quilts, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the quilting industry, I talk about the opportunities, challenges, surprises, and lessons I encountered along the way. I’ll share how my designs found their way into magazines, books, fabric-company publications, and my own pattern business—and how one opportunity often opened the door to another.

Born and raised in Brazil, I also explore the threads connecting my Brazilian heritage with my work as an American quilter. I look at the emergence and growth of modern patchwork and quilting in Brazil and share how Brazilian color, culture, and visual influences have shaped my fabric choices and designs.

Part personal journey and part peek behind the curtain of the quilting world, Following the Thread celebrates creativity, perseverance, cultural influences, and the unexpected possibilities that can unfold along the way.

Workshops

Fearless Panel Quilt Makers! (In person or via Zoom)

All-day workshop (6 hours):

After this workshop, you will never fear making quilts with panels again! We will evaluate the panels brought to class, brainstorm layouts, review numbers likely to work with panel measurements, and sew. You will learn (and practice!):

• Which fabric colors to use around the panel
• How to design pieced borders:
  • Which type of blocks? How many blocks? Which fabrics to place in the blocks?
  • What do you do if the math—or the final size of the project you have in mind—isn’t
    working for the blocks you want to make?
• Where to place fabrics and which fabrics to use on straight borders
• How to use panel blocks
• How to use panels with blocks of different/odd sizes

Designing Quilts using Electric Quilt Software (EQ8)

All-day workshop (6 hours)

• Must have EQ8 installed and a license
• Get to know the software
• Worktables
• Fabric Management
• File Management
• Libraries
• Print and Save
• Quilt Design
• Block Design
• Assets for pattern writing

Quilted Sweatshirt Vest (In person)

One-day workshop (6 hours):

• Transform an oversized sweatshirt into a cozy, quilted vest you’ll want to wear everywhere! In this fun, beginner-friendly workshop, students will learn to upcycle a sweatshirt into a stylish wearable quilt using simple quilting and finishing techniques.
• Recreate Denise’s sample using rich batiks, or personalize your vest with favorite fabrics, scraps, panels, or two treasured 12″ orphan blocks from past projects. Students will learn fabric placement, walking-foot quilting, continuous bias binding, and tips for turning an everyday garment into a unique quilted layer.
• This class is perfect for confident beginners looking to expand their quilting skills and for experienced quilters eager to create a fast, satisfying wearable project. The vest is comfortable, flattering, highly customizable, and a wonderful way to showcase favorite fabrics.
• It’s a fantastic stash-busting class that encourages creativity and repeat participation.

Welcome Wreath (In person)

Quilt size: 28” x 28”
Block size: 10”

All-day workshop (6 hours):

• Customize for any season or holiday
• Audition, cut, and organize fabric scraps to make blocks
• Raw-edge fusible machine appliqué using blanket or
  zigzag stitch.
• Discussion and demonstration: how to appliqué a light
  fabric motif over a dark background
• Free-motion quilting demonstration
• Layout options for larger quilt

Cozy Cottage (In person)

Quilt size: 11½” x 16″

All-day workshop (6 hours):

• Create a whimsical nighttime landscape featuring a cozy cottage, flowers, a sleepy cow, and two charming chickens. In this relaxed and beginner-friendly class, you’ll learn how to fuse wool appliqué shapes to a fabric background and secure them with whip stitching using embroidery thread.
• Follow the sample color palette or dive into your wool scrap collection to make the project uniquely yours. Add personality and texture with simple embroidery stitches and favorite buttons or embellishments.
• Learn construction and embellishment techniques, and explore new ideas such as quilting motifs, faux flanges, hanging loops, and binding.
• Perfect for wool appliqué beginners and experienced stitchers looking for a fun, creative project.