FREE LIVE ONLINE WORKSHOP!

Hello everyone! 

I'm so excited to announce my very first online workshop! It's fun, it's free and you can even chat with me by typing in your questions as we go. AND you'll find out below that it's such an easy process to sign up! Here's what it's all about:

MARK YOUR CALENDAR - December 5th at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time

FREE 1 hour live workshop includes: 

Adorable quilted tree ornament. Fussy cut a mini centre motif and surround it with a few tiny 1/4inch log cabin frames. Practice mini stippling and add a simple finished edge with ribbon. 

BONUS 15 minute wine bottle bag tutorial. 

CQA 2014 has put out the call to Canadian Quilters for banquet attendee gifts. This year's project is wine bottle bags. 
-you can make a few to send in to CQA 
-or whip some together for last minute holiday gift giving 

Techniques include; basic bag construction and some fun suggestions for piecing, surface design and embellishment. 

REGISTRATION IS LIMITED SO SIGN UP TODAY! 

Holiday Quilted Tree Ornament

BONUS Wine Bottle Bag

Here's how to register:

Click on this link HOLIDAY QUILTED TREE ORNAMENT

Once you are there, all you have to do is fill in your first name, last name and your email address. Then click on REGISTER and you're done! 

And remember this is all new for me, so there could be bumps and bobbles along the way. That's why I'm offering this fun project for free. Why not try your very first webinar now for free. 

Please join me! SIGN UP NOW

Until next time…Dream big and work hard in the studio with Canadian Quilt Talk!

Summer Workshop

It amazes me how guilty I feel when I haven't posted in a while, but I figure, if you are busy, you are busy - just make the best of it and move on. Having said that however, I do appreciate so many of you who have followed along so far, so I've decided to be a bit more predictable!

My posts for the blog are going to be every Tuesday and I'll be starting up a new surprise for quilters every Thursday very soon. HUSH, HUSH, it's a fun new adventure. And I have everything ready to start a newsletter for the first time as well. That will start out as quarterly, so only every few months.

But today's post is all about a fun new workshop I'm doing for the community arts council called Beach Blanket Frenzy. It will be so fun. It for kids aged 10 - 14 and we make a beach blanket for 4 days and then hit the beaches on Friday. It gets so stinking hot here in our semi-arid desert climate that you just have to hit the beach every chance you get.

Here's a sneak peek at the finished top (so simple) but fun for kids! 

If you want to get a child involved in a great summer project here's what you need:

60" x 60" piece of cotton twill (thicker cotton) for the backing.

1M each of 3 fabrics for the front. 

Cut and piece 9" x 9" squares in any arrangement you like. (Let your child choose.)

Spray baste the top to the back & let dry overnight.  

Quilt the entire blanket with a simple wavy line on a diagonal through the corners of the blocks. 

Trim the backing to 1" larger than the pieced top. 

Fold edges 1/2" twice, pin and sew the simple binding onto the front with a simple mitred corner.

It's a beach blanket and you're working with kids...so most importantly, have fun... and go get it dirty! 

Student Feature - Joan Dupuis-Neal

In case you haven't noticed, it brings me copious amounts of joy to see my students thrive, have fun and create beautiful things, so every time I get an email with a finished quilt I literally do the happy dance around my house. The dog wonders what the heck is going on!

Here's a fantastic baby room wall quilt made by Joan Dupuis-Neal during my Black Sheep Block Party workshop recently in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I absolutely love the final colour layout and how she created embroidered letters and numbers that line up perfectly with the angles. Her colour choices for the numbers from light mauve to blue, white and back to purple are very appealing to the eye. I love it when students take what they've learned in class and add their own personal skill and style to make it completely personalized. Great job Joan!

I find that students enjoy this class for the shopping experience first and foremost because they need to buy .2M of 15 different fabrics. It's so fun and the quilt shop owners have a blast helping them pick out 5 colours in 3 shades each. Then once they are in class, it's just play, play, play.

For more on the Brandy Lynn Designs line up of classes check out the workshops page on my website. I would love to come and teach at your guild and meet you in person!

Morden Workshop

I had so much fun teaching the Inksations class in Morden today with the Quilter's Den. Judging from the gorgeous quilts adorning the walls of the Quilter's Den, that town has some talent. I hadn't been in the shop since it came under new ownership a few years ago. The previous owner had excellent customer service with a very lovely traditional aesthetic. The new owner, Alvina has given the shop a serious makeover and embraced the modern trends in the quilting industry. It is clean, fresh and inviting and a great new destination for Manitoba quilters. There's more to Morden than corn and apples!

Here are a few shots of fabulous toppers finished by the students in the class. I'll say it again and again - I love seeing the fabrics that the students choose to bring to class.

Looking forward to a fabulous week of seeing family and friends and then two more days of teaching at the 30th Anniversary Event for the Manitoba Prairie Quilters.

Happy Easter everyone!

Winter in Winnipeg!

I am so excited to be teaching in Winnipeg, MB in just 10 days. I was born and raised, lived there 4 decades until just 2 years ago when we moved to BC. I'm so excited to see all of my family and friends again. I'm not even sure if this is a shot of a variety of the Manitoba crocus flower, but it is a photo of a gorgeous flower that I took myself when I lived there!

My itinerary is packed for 10 days - I'll be teaching 3 workshops, visiting friends and family, hitting my favorite restaurants and even catching an old school Bon Jovi concert!

Here's what I'll be teaching:
Inksations Workshop in Morden, MB on Saturday March 30th
Inksations Workshop for Manitoba Prairie Quilters (MPQ) April 6th
Black Sheep Block Party Workshop for MPQ on April 7th

Black Sheep Block Party is a brand new class I designed at the request of the MPQ guild so I haven't even blogged about it or finished the pattern yet, so here's a couple quick snapshots...

It is such a great project because students get to pick 15 different fabrics. You basically need 5 fabric colours in 3 values plus a border fabric, so the shopping for this class is so fun.

The countdown is on for Winnipeg and I am trying to figure out how I'll fit everything into my luggage.  I'm pretty sure I'll have to dig out some warm winter clothes! The best part of the whole trip is that I'll be cuddling a few new babies that were born in the last two years. I can't wait - and of course I have a quilt for each one of them! I have a baby niece, a baby great niece and a close friend's baby boy! I can't show the quilts of course, until after I give them away.

If you think you'd like to book a workshop in your area or purchase the Inksations Table Runner & Silk Screen Kit, check out the Brandy Lynn Designs website or just leave me a comment. Let's see if can make it happen!

Fibre Art Workshops in Kamloops

I had so much fun teaching in Kamloops recently. It was packed house for 2 fun with fibre workshops. It's hard to go wrong teaching a room full of Home Ec Teachers and Art Teachers. My workshop samples look like I mixed a seamstress with an artist, so it is very cool to see the perfect stitchers and the creative minds together. I think there was one Physed teacher in there too for longevity.

The 2 classes were Embellised Fibre and Fibre Art Landscapes:

Embellished Fibre

Fibre Art Landscapes

The workshops were so much fun. Here's an idea of what you'll get when you take a Brandy Lynn Designs Fibre Art workshop:

• fibre art techniques - stamping, bleach, decolourant, fusible and foil
• basic stitches - hidden appliqué, cross-stitch and rice stitching
• embellishment effects - beading, found objects and couched fibres
• matte, frame and wrap on canvas techniques
• tips on colour, depth, layout and design

The key to my workshops is to let go, have fun and be inspired. Here's a detail shot of a piece by the workshop organizer - Holly (also a student). She did a great job, despite running around being my helper, and improvised by adding a few appliqué effects from the black practice sample. Why waste a practice piece when it turned out so well?

Speaking of Holly, she treated me like a queen. The room was fantastic, she provided everything I needed and gave me a delicious lunch. They did a great job advertising because the classes were full with a waiting list. The event organizers sent a lovely messenger into the class to thank me and give me chocolates! (Some little birdie must have told them it was my favourite.) Holly also hand made this adorable little bag and cell phone holder. (She knew I'd appreciate a hand sewn gift!) The big one protects my sunglasses and the little one fits my iPhone perfectly. And when I looked inside there was a cute little envelope with a lucky coin. So thoughtful! 

The best part of all was the feedback from the class. So many students came up after class and mentioned their favourite part of the workshop. I received a few great testimonials and the organizers even booked my calendar for next year's event!  

"An inspiring session with Brandy, creating a simple yet beautiful fabric landscape with a unique sun feature.  Can't wait to schedule a session for next year!"  

- Holly Adkins

Home Economics Teacher, South Kamloops Secondary School, Kamloops, B.C.

"It has been awhile since I have done a totally creative day.  It was good for my brain! It makes me realize, how important creativity is for me. Your sessions were relaxing, inspiring and motivating. I want to do more!  I appreciated the variety of supplies you brought for us to use.  I think we all found something we hadn't tried before.  Thank you for sharing!"
- Wilma Steinke,
Home Economics Teacher, Sa-Hali Secondary School, Kamloops, B.C.

If you are interested in booking a Brandy Lynn Designs workshop checkout the classes available on my website. They range from traditional tumbling blocks to silk screening and fibre art techniques. Book now to secure your date for 2013!

Explore Fibre - NEW CLASS!

Looking for a sneak peek of my new Explore Fibre class? It tried out the lesson plan and teaching components on my local guild last week and it was so much fun. The teaching time frames and drying times worked out well and every student had wonderful successes. (I don't need to tell you how inspired I am by my students' colour choices and design play because I blog about it all too often!) I was left feeling that the only thing better than exploring fibre all day is doing it with your friends. What I can tell you without spilling the beans too much (a book is in the works) is that it involves Shiva paint sticks, dissolving stabilizer, and thermofax screen printing along with all kinds of embellishments.

Can you imagine anything more fun? The photos are of hand dyed fabric adorned with a delicious assortment of colourful fibres and then a few beads stitched in for good measure. AND on top of that the class supplies are a bunch of fat quarters and scraps that you can surely pull from your stash. You can book this class for your guild already (and, of course, learn more detail) by inquiring online at Brandy Lynn Designs, but I'll announce it here soon, so stay tuned!

Thermofax Fun

I've had so much fun with thermofax screens since the launch of my Inksations Table Runner Kit. With a thermofax machine and riso film you can literally draw anything your heart desires and make it into a printable screen. After teaching one of my Inksations classes one student suggested that I make a screen for the holidays which inspired the Holly Berries Screen.

Recently, I designed a new class featuring several fibre art techniques to teach at my local quilting guild (the Summerland Material Girls) in the New Year. Since I live in Wine Country I decided to go with the theme of grapes. Here's the first draft of that screen . . .

Both of these screens are available by contacting me through the Brandy Lynn Designs website. Just fill out the contact form and ask for the screen of your choice. I'm having so much fun with this . . . there are plenty more to come.

12-12-12 Trunk Show

What were you doing on the 12th day if the 12th month of the 12th year? I was doing a Trunk Show. And I'll never forget the date because this was my very first Trunk Show! It was an honour to be a part of the Penticton Quilting Guild's holiday brunch as the guest speaker. The holiday outfits were fabulous and the food was sooo good.

Are you doing any quilt projects over the holidays? Here's a quick snapshot of another placemat I whipped up for Meals on Wheels.

It is so important to give back when you can, especially over the holidays, and I love to make quilted projects out of scraps that someone can use when they are alone at this time of year. Please leave a comment and let me know how you like to give back to the community! 

Student Treasures

Sometimes I feel like I write this same blog post about my students again and again, but I can tell you for sure that I will never get sick of this topic - EVER! I just LOVE it when a student from a recent workshop stops by to show me her finished art piece or quilt and that is just what happened this week. Heather stopped by to show me her finished Embellished Fibre Art piece.

She made some wonderful additions to the basic pattern by couching the fibre on an angle and adding gorgeous bunches of beads along that as well. She also added further touches of the gold paint at home by using a dry sponge and attached a tiny gold pendant of a bird. (A little birdie told me that she is crazy about crows!)

Then she also pulled out her Inksations Table Runner. It is so gratifying to see the finished quilt from a pattern that I designed! And she quilted it herself by domestic machine. It looks amazing!

It eases my heart that quilters can follow the directions perfectly and I am always so impressed by the refreshing colours. You know how you love what you love and you tend to pick the same colours all the time? Well, seeing my pattern in every beautiful colour under the rainbow is just a dream come true.

Embellished Fibre Class

This past Saturday I taught my Embellished Fibre class. It was a full house at the Art Gallery (which is such a nice venue!) and the ladies were fabulous (that means well behaved but adventurous). I love it when a student sends me a photo or comes back to my studio a few days later to show me a gorgeous finished piece.

The class is designed to explore a pile of fun techniques and just give students the tools to create something beautiful. I am so impressed by Jul's the triple stack beaded clusters and the fabulous bursts of stitch. Great job! Thank you so much for coming back to the studio to show me the finished art piece!

INKSATIONS Workshop

I had so much fun last week teaching the Inksations class in Penticton! I am always so impressed by the fabulous colour choices that the students bring to class. Here are a few more of my star students with their finished table runner tops...

Diane

Betty

Louise (still tackling the borders)

Diana

A fun time was had by all and Barb and Cathie were a dynamic duo at Poppin's Quilt Parlour. Thanks for hosting! 

If you'd like to take the INKSATIONS Table Runner and Silk Screen Workshop, visit the Brandy Lynn Designs website to fill out the online request form and I'll send you a list of upcoming classes or you can book a date for your guild today! It's an excellent way for traditional quilters to take a small step out of their comfort zone and try something artsy. 

These are exciting times...

I'm having so much fun teaching all weekend in Prince George. What a fabulous bunch of ladies! My favourite part of class is always the reveal of a pieced top with the student's fabulous colour choices on display. This was the INKSATIONS table runner workshop...

Here's a huge line of photos of the finished toppers...enjoy!

We all had so much fun and every single student finished their project. I even had a first because in this last photo the student completed 2 table runners in one day! Way to go Louise!

Up and at 'em first thing tomorrow to teach the Crazy Quilted Baby Blanket. Nightie night!