The Machine Shop in Highland, Illinois is happy to sponsor an educational and training event for long-arm quilters.  We will be featuring the Handi-Quilter line of products and all training will be conducted by: Judy Allen

 

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Elegant Expressions: A Feather Designing and Art and Stitch Workshop with Judy Allen & Joanne Flood

 

Day 1-3 August 7th, 8th, 9th  - All Day  9-4     

Class Fee                         $300

Feather Design Kit         $45  (register before June 30th and receive this kit free)

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Judy Allen is a Handiquilter Fusion Pro owner and is one of the first two certified Art and Stitch Educators in the United States since 2010. Along with her twin sister Joanne Flood, both sisters traveled to the Netherlands to learn from the creators of this wonderful digitizing program. (Her twin being the first to pass the test (Ugh) subsequently having all the bragging rights).

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Anyway Judy’s love of sharing this amazing digitizing program for longarm quilters is only surpassed by her love of creating feather designs for any intended space thus being able to use both skills with her wonderful quilt machine. Having the Art and Stitch program built into the Prostitcher computer is such an amazing bonus for any quilter.

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Joanne Flood is a certified teacher for Art and Stitch (the first in the U.S.), a quilt piecer, pattern designer and “One Awesome Fisherman”. Joanne concentrates her efforts on the basics to advanced training of Art and Stitch while Judy focuses on the feather quilting aspect of the program by creating designs on paper and then digitizing them. In her every day job, Joanne is a hair stylist with her own shop: Stylistics an the twins enjoy trading their individual expertise's.

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Three Days of Feather Designing

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As a longarm quilter and business owner since 1991 and a “piecer” since 1983, Judy has developed an easy and elegant technique for creating a beautiful array of feather design shapes. These designs are made with a set of three circle templates, once created, the designs then can be photographed and brought into the program to be traced. While being able to create the designs within the Art and Stitch program is wonderful, students can move at a faster rate, especially with a large group, after having taken the feather designing class.

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Judy is an American Quilter’s Society author with an out of print feather designing book called “The Art of Feather Quilting” (you can still get it on Amazon) in which she is rewriting with her new and improved techniques you will learn in class. She is a pattern designer for Golden Threads as well as having her designs available for purchase on the internet. Her business “Judy’s Quick Quilting” was started to not only quilt for other people but to train others as well in running a longarm quilting machine business. Judy was previously a trainer and educator for both American Professional Quilting Systems and Tin Lizzie 18. She has taught her techniques both nationally and internationally as well as having her work featured in many books and magazines as well as appearing on Quilt Central TV and QNN TV with Jody Davis. Judy is also known as the original promoter of her “Curved Cross Hatching” techniques so widely utilized in the quilting world. Judy developed a set of four machine quilting rulers called “Judalators” to not only be used for quilting the curved cross hatching lines but for undulating and scallop lines as well and most importantly, the feather shapes themselves. Along with the rulers, she has also created several curved cross hatching stencils that are available for those quilters who wish to mark the lines and then quilt with the rulers, no guess work needed. If time allows, creating a whole cloth arrangement on paper will be offered.

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If Judy could talk to you personally she would like you to know that the techniques she teaches in the “designing on paper” class are as simple to create as they are beautiful and no artistic ability is needed here, if you can trace around a circle, you can do it. She begins with the necessary positioning guide lines and then onto the centerline of a design and then finally the placement of the feathers themselves. The design exercises include: straight-line, circles, hearts, paisleys, swags and finally undulating mirror image repeats (she could spend three days alone just on that exercise). You will see how she takes a mirror image repeat design and turns it into border corner designs with her bridgework and framework techniques. Included are ideas for creating spaces for the curved cross hatching line assignments and background quilting ideas. Judy has created a kit for the feather designing class with all the tools necessary for a successful feather designing experience. Along with the three, circle combo templates used as the design tools, there is a folder with approximately 50 handout pages and marking tools. This kit is extremely necessary for this process and you will see how much when you accomplish one of these beautiful designs. The kit fee is $45.00.

 

Two Days of Art and Stitch

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Day 4 & 5 August 10th & 11th  - All Day  9-4

Class Fee                         $200

Register before June 30th and receive 10 never published digital designs by Judy Allen Free

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In these two days of working in the Art and Stitch program students will be creating various design exercises from tracing a feather design to creating them in various spaces and shapes. She would like you to know that it is easier to create the feathers in the program if you have learned all the various shapes Judy teaches in the previous feather design class. The goal is to accomplish the student in the best way possible so that they can move onto creating the designs to fit the quilts that they are working on. We will cover as many shapes as we can but her two goals are to start by tracing a simple design. If the student has taken the first three days of feather designing than they can use the ones they have created, if they have not, we will choose one from the programs library. Secondly, do the exercises I have created and then move on to the perfecting of the design using the tools within the program. We will then get to have some fun with the unique tools within the program using the designs the students have made.

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An extremely important part of digitizing feathers is reshaping them to run accurately within the program so that a double repeat line will be viewed as a single line only. We will spend some quality time doing that. There will be several exercises to help the student know where to put a point using the three point arc that we use to create the feathers, another very important area to participate in. Students must come equipped to be able to maneuver through the program. Otherwise it will slow down the whole process and less information can be accomplished by the students. Some evening classes may be available after the feather designing class has finished to familiarize the students with the operations of the program and to prepare them for the next phase of the workshops with Art and Stitch if time is allowed.

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Judy brings with her a variety of tools, quilts and accompanying designs to aide in the decision making process of the different quilts and the borders involved. You do not have to be a longarm quilter to be able to take the feather designing class. In the Art and Stitch class, you must have worked proficiently in the program to keep up in the class. Judy has offered to answer any questions that may concern a prospective student and she realizes that a substantial investment is being made into these classes and wants to reassure them that they will be able to accomplish what she teaches. So give this workshop a try and discover the hidden talent of creating feather designs. Judy’s delight is to prosper you in an ability that will further your income and your talents. You may phone her with any questions at 315:783-9153 Eastern Time, if no answer, please leave a message and she will return your call.

 

Lunch Will be Provided.

 

Class size limited to 20 

 

Feather designing applies not only to Long arm quilters but sit down and domestic quilters alike. 

 

Any brand owner will benefit from this feather Designing class. 

 

The Art Stitch can be of benefit to those wanting to learn quilt digitizing or those who may be thinking about purchase of the software.

 

Art and Stitch Notes:

Those taking the Art and Stitch classes will need a tablet or laptop (preferably) as it is easier to see what you are creating, especially for the reshaping techniques.While the Prostitcher tablet is exceptable, it is better to have a bigger screen, you will be much happier for it.Please bring a wired mouse (crucial), all chords necessary for the computer. The battery life of a laptop does not last long enough for our needs. Having the User Guide is necessary at all times in learning the program but we will be using the addendum "Feather Designing in Art and Stitch by Judy Allen for this class.Please print that ahead of time if you have the program installed and we will also have a few copies for those of you who don't.For those who have purchased the program, check and make sure you have version 4.2. It does take some time to upgrade if needed, so this must be done prior to class. If you have the program and want to activate it, please do so way ahead of time. It takes 72 hours to get your activation code and down load the program to your laptop and or Pro-Stitcher tablet.We don't want to slow down the class schedule by having to do this. If you have only the trial version keep in mind you will not be able to save anything but you can take pictures.A camera is also great for taking pictures of the trunk show you will be seeing. Please bring a thumb drive in case you would like to load other students designs and trust me you will want to.

 

More info on computer requirements can be found here with a brief overview of A&S Base version: http://artandstitch.com/overview.htm

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We will send you a PayPal request for payment of class fees after receiving your registration.  Please allow 24-48 hours for the request to arrive.

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