On Saturday I attended Denyse Schmidt's Improvisational Quilting workshop (http://www.dsquilts.com/). It was an incredible experience. Denyse and Richard Killeany (http://www.ocheltreedesign.com/) taught the class. I never thought that I could make a quilt. I had tried many years ago to make a quilt, and it was such a struggle that I gave up. Everything was crooked. About 5 years ago, I made a crib quilt for my niece Sofia, using a Simplicity pattern. It was cute, but also crooked even though it was the simplest pattern ever.
In Denyse's method, there is no measuring! And, we chose the fabrics for the quilt squares randomly from paper bags. We had to use whatever pieces we chose, whether we liked them or not. It was incredibly freeing, and it felt like making a collage. Once I got going, I didn't want to stop. It was so fun to see what you were going to pull out of the bag. I didn't have to worry about things being crooked--in fact, the more crooked the pieces were, the more interesting the squares were.
This workshop was one of the best things I have ever done in my life. I just cannot wait to do more sewing. Finding the time is just so hard for me...But, now I know I CAN make a quilt, and it doesn't have to be perfect. Thank you Denyse and Richard!
