Quiltfest, in Jonesborough, TN, is put on each July by Jonesborough’s destination quilt shop, Tennessee Quilts. I usually go (work schedule permitting) and enjoy the nationally-known teachers, meeting other quilters, and SALE at the shop! I usually take a class that will allow me to try something new.  So this year…

I took a class to learn Esterita Austin‘s monoprinting technique.  Here’s the photo I used as my source:

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that I have taken classes in photography and ceramics but not painting! Esterita generously came over and did some of the shading for me, but basically I was hopeless at doing the shading to make this look three dimensional.  As Esterita commented, “You can’t learn it in 2 days”.

I did learn the process, and since the point was to learn something new, the class was a success.  Here’s the print I made in class. And yes, it really is that shiny, because of the media Esterita uses.

Esterita has many tips and tricks to solve potential problems with the technique, so if you want to do monoprints for quilts, those would be very useful.

And the rest of Quiltfest was as fun, too.  Nancy Mahoney did a very nice lecture on her two-block quilts during lunch one day, and of course I made a few trips to the shop during the sale.  My goody bag contained a yard of pretty red Christmas fabric that I have already made into a pillowcase for one of my grandsons.  So the entire trip was a nice break 🙂

Christmas pillowcase

The print I made will be sandwiched with batting and backing, and quilted.  There are just a few projects ahead of that, but I’ll post a picture when it’s finally done.