I recently spent 2 weeks mostly doing quilty things rather than cooking, doing laundry, hanging on the internet, etc. The time ended with the North Carolina Quilt Symposium at Lake Junaluska, NC.
View from the hotel at Lake Junaluska
This was one of the best events I have ever attended in terms of the quality of instruction. The friends who went with me agree, so it wasn’t just me in my little bubble 🙂
I took a class with Cheryl Brickey (see her website here), who was a wonderful instructor and showed us her personal method of designing modern-traditional quilts using EQ8 (Electric Quilt). I have used EQ for ages (OK, since EQ5, and they are now up to EQ8) but she showed me some cool new tools I had never discovered.
Cheryl and me with the partially completed quilt I designed and made in class
My second class was with Lyric Kinard. (Her website is here.) I learned a lot about creating portraits in fabric. Here is one that was done for practice at the beginning of the class. It’s supposed to be the woman who was sitting across from me, but I did not take a photo of her for comparison 😀
This was just a quick practice piece; I promise the woman didn’t really have blue skin!
Lyric went on to teach a much more elaborate and realistic way to do a portrait in fabric, but mine isn’t even far enough along to show. The whole class was useful and Lyric is an encouraging instructor.
The details of next year’s NC Quilt Symposium are not finalized, but if you want to know more about the symposium and what was available this year, visit the website at NCQSI.org. I hope to see you there next year, especially, because I have agreed to help recruit teachers! Come join the fun!
I was able to interview 3 of the teachers at NCQS, so look for posts about them coming up in the next few weeks.
Zippy Quilts 
Seems that you had a marvelous time. Love your fractured star quilt and look forward to seeing your real portrait. And the lake is quite beautiful
Yes, it was a fun weekend!
2 weeks of quilty things sounds divine! The classes sounds wonderful! Fracture star – AWESOME!!!
Thanks! Maybe you should come for the symposium next year 😃
Maybe!!!
I dunno, I kinda like “the lady with the blue face”.
Happy for your fun time, Zippy!
Thanks! NCQS will be in Lake Junaluska again next year. You are close enough to join us!
Sounds like a plan!
I read a book on design by Lyric Kinard and was quite impressed. Has good starter questions and evaluation questions. The blue face made me think of an artist talk at the Portland Art Museum. Arvie, the artist, was doing a walk through talk about his works on exhibit. Q and A of course. One woman asked why the woman in the painting had blue skin. He answered that the painting was al orange and needed some blue.
Great answer! Choice made on aesthetic rather than realistic considerations. 😁
I’m impressed with your quilt done in Cheryl Brickey’s class–two thumbs up for both designing it on EQ8 and getting it to top-completed status! It’s terrific. Glad you had a great time, and look forward to your other posts.
Thanks! It was an excellent class 🙂
Thanks for this post. The fractured star is beautiful and I just LOVE the blue face.