NeedleStars: A Kaleidoscope Class

Intermediate skill workshop


Maximum: 20 students
Intermediate
Recommended Format:
1 day workshop

Price:
2011: $800/day 
2012: $850/day
2013: $875/day
2014: $875/day

This class is the first day of my multi-day kaleidoscope workshop and is both a process and product class. Students learn all of the unique machine piecing and template techniques I use to create a complex kaleidoscopic image while simultaneously exploring the virtues of bilaterally symmetrical fabric. Needlestars© is a 4-patch block reminiscent of a kaleidoscopic pinwheel.

Guild program chairperson can inquire about a kit for each student including graph paper, template plastic package, ruler, and marking pen set for templates; $12 more if kit includes one yard of bilaterally symmetrical fabric (student will have choice between 3 or more colorways).

1. Graph paper with an eight-to-the-inch grid and a bold inch line; one sheet per student will be provided by instructor.
*2. Sheets of see-thru plastic template material with an eight-to-the-inch grid and a bold inch line. PREFERRED AND AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN CLASS : Visi-Grid (C&T Publisher)

3. Thin rulers (PREFERRED AND AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN CLASS: C-Thru 6")

4. Sharp pencils with ample and accessible erasers

*5. Extra fine-point permanent marker. (PREFERRED AND AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN CLASS: Multimark S/Faber Castell in a 3 pen set)
*6. Method to mark dark fabric. *PREFERRED AND AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN CLASS: Uniball Silver Gel Pen)
6. Fabric scissor
7. Template/paper scissors: A template scissor should not be the discarded kitchen shears or shaped for a five-year-old's hand. It is the essential, indispensible tool from which all other acts follow. I use OlfasCS-1 multipurpose scissors.
8. Set-up for rotary cutting, including a rotary cutter, ruler and mat. OPTIONAL: Small rotary cutter and Brooklyn Revolver (cutting mat mounted on a lazy susan)
9. Sewing machine with well-defined quarter-inch seam allowance guide + single hole throat plate
10. General sewing supplies including fine pins and black thread
11. Ziplock baggies to hold templates


Fabric

The success of NEEDLESTARS depends on choosing a bilaterally symmetrical fabric. A motif with bilateral symmetry can be divided into identical halves by a line passing through the center.

Note: Patches A+C are cut from the same bilaterally symmetrical fabric. Patches D+E are cut from the same allover fabric that functions as the background and is often a rich, dark (or black) reads-like-a-solid-but-isn’t fabric. Patch B is cut from a different allover fabric and should contrast sharply with Fabric A in order to stand out and emphasize the shape of the “needle.” In other words, DO NOT PICK A FABRIC FOR B THAT MATCHES YOUR A FABRIC.  It is best to audition Patch B in class so bring a variety of small to medium all-over prints evoke luminosity or translucence, textures, gradations, splattered dots, stuff speckled with gold or thin stripes. Painterly batiks are also good. Be outrageous in your B choices, bring stuff that clashes with A.

Yardage Requirements
for Single Block Made in Class 10" x 10"
Fabric A+C: Bilaterally Symmetrical Fabric:
1 yard
Fabric B: The Needle: 1/2 yard
Fabric D+E: Background: 1/2 yard
 
 

Click here to see Class Sample