Machine Quilters Showcase

Karen,

MQS is tons of fun! Be sure to give yourself plenty of time for shopping and looking at the amazing quilts. As far as classes, you probably can't pick a bad one. Just decide what is more important to you, hands on or lecture. Is there some one who you like their style or want to learn more about their technique? What do you want to learn more about? I do better with lecture because I can focus in on what they are saying and doing vs trying to maintain the machine while doing all that. Also pay attention to the product demos. They are free and you can learn a fair amount about products you may be curious about and what they can do for you.

I plan on going again this year. Hubby is taking vacation again to watch DD for me. If anyone wants a meet up, just let me know!

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

I haven't been before, but I'm thinking about going too. The only teacher I "know" is Dawn Cavanaugh. I just took a two-day class from her, and she was wonderful. Very down to earth and easy to learn from. I've also heard Jamie Wallen and Karen McTavish do fun classes too.

I've never been there, but one of the teachers, Bonnie Bosma, is in my guild. She does beautiful work; I've never had a class from her, but she has spoken to our guild. She also teaches some beginning piecing classes in the local community ed. I suspect she'd be a good teacher.

Julia > Howdy

In the last year I've had classes from or bought DVD self paced classes from:

Renae Haddadin

Christine Olson Nichole Webb Jaimie Wallen Clark Taylor I also have many of Cindy Roth's products and articles

On my like to take from list is Irena Bluhm

I've also heard wonderful things about Kimmy Brunner's classes.

Most of the quilters listed for MQS have web pages. You can google them and drool. These are the best of the best in the longarm world. Many of them have taken top awards at the best shows. You just simply can not go wrong with any of them you take. Even just going and looking at the quilts is an amazing time.

And now you all know why I've been so quiet for the last year.... so much to do.... so little time.....

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

Yes, a meet up would be fun :-) I didn't know about the product demos. Thanks. I'll have to make sure I have some free time just to shop and watch demos. I'm not going to take the hands on classes either. I want to be able to take several classes and the hands on classes cost a lot more than the lectures. I was thinking abut taking maybe three classes per day for maybe three days. Does that sound about right, or is it too much for the first time? I'll probably stick with the beginner classes. As far as deciding what I want to learn more about, well... everything :-)

Karen

Hi Louise I mentioned to someone that I wanted to learn more filler/background patterns and I was told that Dawn is really good :-) I think I will try to take at least one of her classes. I have Karen McTavish's book and CD and I really like her as well. And Jamie Wallen is a very popular teacher too. So many choices....

Karen

Thanks for all the links :-) I will have to look at what each teacher does and see what I like best. Some of these teachers are in the machine quilting groups that I belong to. They seem to be very nice people. Hmmm... it looks like MQS will have to be an annual event for me :-) There is just no way I can take all the classes I want in one MQS. Is MQS held in Overland Park, Kansas every year? Or does it move to a new location each year?

Karen

Thanks Julia :-) I'll see what I can find out about her work.

Karen

Karen,

I think all those teachers post in the various longarm groups. And that's what I meant by defining what you want to learn and going from there. There are many different versions of feathers.... whose do you like? That's the teacher for you. Do you want to learn about show quilting? If not, skip those classes. Do you want to learn to paint like Irena?? Dye fabric??? Do you want to learn more about thread and needles?? Photographing your quilts better? I took two classes in one day it was a four hour straight stretch.... that was a little much for me. The days that I took one class I did better, but you have to decide what works for you. I have a hard time sitting still ;-)

MQS will be in KC for the next few years. It has changed location through the years, but I think they have contracts through the next couple of years for here. Enjoy! And the product demo is usually published in advance so you can evaluate that too. I know DH watched Renae's and understood what I had been trying to tell him about the rays much better ;-)

We can work out a meet up time and place closer to time! Anyone else want to play??? :-)

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

I am going to have to spend some more time going over the different classes before I make my decisions. There are some things that sound ore interesting to me than others. Mainly because I am fairly new to longarm quilting. I hadn't thought about comparing feathers to see which ones I like best. Thanks :-)

Karen

Have fun! Shopping the classes is half the fun ;-) And you know... some people just simply don't like feathers (right frood!) And that's fine if you don't like them. It's better to say, I don't like them, but I like xyz. And find a class on xyz. :-) It's the beautiful part about it.... no quilt police.... define your taste and cultivate it. ;-)

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

Jan, I think I want to play too. First I have to figure out if I can get the time off from work, but hopefully that won't be a problem. I'm going to sit down this weekend and try to figure out what classes I want - there are so many good ones to choose from!

Yippeeeee!!! :-)

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

Louise wrote: