Do you have 2 hours a day to share your love of quilting with children? Then this opportunity is for you. We are looking for 5 volunteers a day to work with the 3rd grade students at Ira B. Jones Elementary School from Monday, April 20th through Wednesday April 29th.  (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each week from 12:15 pm to 2:15 pm)

You can sign up to volunteer through the link below.

Sign up for Kids Sewing

The first week the students will be making a small pillow they will take home. The second week they will be making blocks for an Immigration Quilt that will hang in the School.

All supplies will be provided so no need to bring anything. You are welcome to sign up for just one session or all 8 -- whatever you can manage will be appreciated.

Many thanks for considering volunteering for this fun and rewarding opportunity.  If you have any questions, please contact Mary Lou Boise at Projects@AshevilleQuiltGuild.org.

Donna Johnston

Guild Projects Chair

Projects@AshevilleQuiltGuild.org

Managing Unfinished Quilts

Dream It * Quilt It

With Emma Jane Powell

Program Description:  Let’s face our unfinished projects.  This fun, self-deprecating, and interactive lecture will jump start your drive to change the pending status of ongoing sewing projects.  We will dive deep into why these projects are on the backburner, and learn how to proceed with quilts you may have lost your enthusiasm for, or would love to finally finish.  You will be given action items to work towards managing your current WIP, and strategies to stop UFOs before they start.  A bundle of downloadable PDF printables to accompany action items are included in the program.

 

Bio: Continuing a family legacy of quilting for over 25 years, Emma Jane has tried it all, and she loves every step of the quilting process.  A career public school ESL teacher for many years, she jumped ship after having a baby in her 40s, and now teaches quilting.  Seeing her passion for quilting reflected in a student’s work is truly an honor.

• Ripple Effect

  Dream It * Quilt It

  With Emma Jane Powell 

   

   Class Description:
  This lively workshop is packed full of techniques to enhance your quilting. Begin by learning to make your own piping, apply it to a curved “ripple effect” and then adhere it to your quilt background in a quilt-as-you-go method. The best part? Absolutely no curves will be sewn in this project! Additionally, learn a variety of surface design techniques to include: foiling, beading, lace, sequence, fun yarns, Angelina fibers, and more to stretch your inner creative genius in this class . You will come away from this workshop full of ideas for future projects.

   

   Supply List:

• Participants will need a sewing machine and including the following feet: walking/even feed foot, zipper foot, and a braiding and/or piping foot. *Zipper foot can be used in lieu of braiding/piping foot, but bring it if you have it.
• The size of your wall hanging is self-directed. Batting and backing fabric whatever size you wish to make your wall hanging plus a couple of inches for overhang.
• For piping: One fat quarter, 3mm cotton cording 3 yards is plenty.
• A variety of fat quarters for piecing the curved sections.
• Fat quarter to a half yard for the background fabric, based on the size wall hanging you want to make.
• Fun stuff of your choosing: beads, sequence, buttons, Deco Foil sheets, and transfer gel, foam stamps to fit the style of your project (flowers, fish, stars, etc.), decorative yarns and ribbons, tulle, cookie cutters, etc.
• Parchment paper or silicone/lead pressing sheet.
• Scraps of Steam a Seam for fusing cookie cutter (or other) shapes.

•  

  * $15 (optional) Kit Includes:

• Deco Foil sheets & Transfer Gel
• A sampling of Angelina fibers
• 3mm cotton cording for piping

*If students do not wish to invest in some of the supplies for the class, they can watch the demos and determine later if they would like to purchase. Students are allowed and encouraged to use Emma’s supplies during the workshop. Students can wait until the end of the workshop to purchase a kit or a la carte supplies for future use.

Registration for Members will open:  2/24/2026

Registration for Non-Members will open:  3/23/2026

Variable Geometries for Quilt Designs

With Roger Winchell

Roger Winchell began quilting by accident in 2009. (He will tell about this in his program.) Before that he pursued careers and hobbies that have been useful in his quilt designs, but which did not particularly presage his current fascination with quilts.

Originally from Ithaca, in upstate New York, he moved in 1962 to Florida.  He has degrees in Physics (BS), Mathematics (MS), Industrial and Systems Engineering (MS) and Classical Greek and Latin (BA). He has worked for the Navy in DC for four years, and as a computer systems analyst for the National Climatic Data Center until his retirement in 2004. He has been married to Katie for 58 years and they have a son, Adrian who lives in Arden.

His hobbies, past and present, include reading, piano, running, languages, stained glass, travel, and, most recently, quilting.  In the 1990’s he earned a BA degree in Classical Greek and Latin. He has run 44 marathons in 42 different states.  He has visited 3128 of the 3141 counties in the US, and once visited all 48 states (except Alaska and Hawaii) in 9 ½ days.  He and Katie are now trying to spend Adrian’s inheritance by traveling as much as possible around the world, including frequent trips to Costa Rica and other Central American countries to learn Spanish.

His colorful, geometric, original quilts have been crowd-pleasers since his very first quilt won the Viewers’ Choice at the Asheville Quilt Show in 2010.  He usually creates two or three competition quilts a year, but finds time for making quilts for friends, families and strangers (through the AQG Community Quilts program. 

He began giving talks and workshops in 2014 and is slowly constructing a website (HeQuilts.com) to display his creations.

 

The Elemental Quilted Jacket

with Dawn Bianco

       

Artist Statement: "I’ve never found a color in the crayon box that I don’t love!  All color has a place in my art.

I began my journey of creativity as a young child at the knee of my mother who was a seamstress creating beautiful clothing for others as well as for herself and me.  Throughout my youth I learned handwork of all kinds, as well as sewing, creating everything from a hand hemmed apron in the 6^th grade to tailored suits and wedding attire.

While my adult life put me in the corporate world of numbers, project management and systems, I created in myspare time.  Mostly creating my own attire of suits, dresses, home dec, etc.  Then in the mid 90’s I was introduced to Color wash quilts and I was hooked!

Like a lazy river my creativity has had many twists and turns, from traditional quilts, to some art quilts, to quilted coats and anything fiber related gets my attention."

Class Description:   The Elemental Quilted Jacket  

This coat can be made in three lengths. Bolero (short), hip length, or car coat-mid thigh.  It can be made with a collar, a hood, or just a simple neckline.  You will be using a completed quilt or a quilt top.  NOTE: This coat is loose fitting.

    

Supplies: 

The Elemental Coat pattern - Supplied by the teacher day of class (all sizes are in one pattern)

Quilt top or a completed quilt, must measure at least 60” x 80”

Bamboo batting size full.  Bamboo is lighter weight than regular batting.  Quilt the top to the batting before class

Complimentary fabrics to add interest for the lining 3 yards

½ yard fabric to be used for binding

Three large buttons that complement your quilt

Basic sewing supplies

Quality fabric scissors

Pins or weights

Cloth measuring tape

Iron and pressing surface

Rotary mat and cutter

Yard Stick or long narrow quilting ruler

Sewing machine, cords

Thread to match your project

Pattern tracing paper: Exam Table Paper, Smooth, 21" x 225' ( You can purchase your own paper or there will be paper available to use for this class).  You will be tracing your size of pattern, therefore you must use tracing paper to see through.

Fine tip felt marker, not a pen or pencil

Scotch tape

Note pad and pen/pencil for notes

In the class:

Determine what size pattern you will need

Trace your pattern size and length choice.

Dawn will assist you with taking measures to ensure the correct size for your jacket.   

Registration for Members will open:  3/26/2026

Registration for Non-Members will open:  4/20/2026

Round Robins

with Karen Stockwell

An award-winning artist, Karen has been making art for most of her life, but the love of color and texture became her passion and she turned to textile art, often using her own hand-dyed silks and cottons in her pieces.  

        

Her work has been in major national and international shows as well as being in corporate and private collections, books, magazines, calendar.  She teaches & lectures around the U.S., writes articles and designs patterns.  She has also been a guest artist on many cruise ships, teaching jewelry, quilting and making teddy bears, most notably as artist-in-residence on Crystal Serenity for almost 5 months.  Loving the travel, the colors and ethnic elements of places she’s visited have influenced her work.  Lately, her art alternates between realistic wall pieces—landscapes, people, animals—and colorful graphic contemporary pieces. 

A Michigan transplant who was in FL for 40 years, she now lives in the mountains of Western NC, an area rich in creativity and art, with her husband, Van, and Sheltie, Rocky.

Portraits & Pets

with Karen Stockwell

This is a class for exploring techniques to make a successful portrait, what types of fabric to use, how to master fabric collage, how detailed you want it, or how much to simplify. 

You will use a photo of your subject and I will give directions beforehand on sizing, how to break down into major color groups.

This is a fun class with great results!

Some pet/portrait artists you might enjoy:

Susan Carlson

Barbara Yates Beasley

Danny Amazonas

Bisa Butler

Pauline Salzman

Valerie Wilson

Emily Taylor

It’s All About the Face - Book

Please read the next two sections:

• Supplies

• Preparing photo to make a pattern for your quilt 

  ___________________________________________________________
  
  SUPPLIES
  
  IMAGES

• • 1 full-sized either B&W or color depending on which shows the separation of shades best
  • 1 color photo for reference—either full-sized or 8x10 or both

  FABRIC

  Bring a variety of colors that could work for your subject.  Light, medium and dark of each.  Batiks are usually good, and tone-on-tone that read as solids.  Small bits, and pieces up to fat quarters.  In this case, more is better. 

  Avoid high-contrast or large print patterns—these are hard to use to show lights and shadows.

  Choose fabric that is tightly woven—if it frays, it’s hard to use in the small pieces.

  Muslin for the background, larger than your finished project will be.  Wash & iron this.
  

  SCISSORS

  Paper scissors and fabric scissors.  A pair of small scissors for fine details is also good.

  PINS

  MISC

  A phone to take photos which helps you see the balance of the colors and shading in your quilt.  Phone photos distance you from your work so you get a better perspective on it and can see where it needs changing.

  A light box would be handy, but optional. Tracing paper, Sharpie Extra Fine Line Permanent Marker, Elmer’s School Gluestick, toothpicks, poster-sized sheet of foamcore (Dollar Tree, Michaels, Walmart).  Freezer paper can be handy for small pieces. 

  A piece of transparent plastic the size of your quilt can be handy for placement (I used a show curtain liner from Dollar tree).

  _______________________________________

  Preparing photo to make a pattern for your quilt

  Save your photo on the desktop. A close up, well-lit photo is best. Using your photo editing program clean up the picture—sharpen the focus, crop it so the main element shows well, adjust light/dark, adjust colors. Don’t worry about the background, you will be replacing it.

  If you don’t have a photo editing program, save the photo to your desktop & double click on the photo --  you will have an EDIT choice.  Click on that to adjust & crop.

  Save new enhanced photo to the desktop.  I print a full page color copy of my photo now to use as a reference.

   Black & White photo

  This helps you see the various shades of colors in your photo.  If you Posterize it in color, sometimes the colors get very strange when they’re separated.  B&W can help you see the changes in values you’re looking for.  If your photo editing program does black & white, you can use it.

  Or…

  Go to IMGonline.com.usa.  Go to EFFECTS and find Black-and-white choice.  #1 click CHOOSE FILE & select your photo.  #2  GAMMA CORRECT choose ON ,  then click OK.  Then OPEN PROCESSED IMAGE.  SAVE a copy.

  Posterize

  In IMGonline, go back to EFFECTS to POSTERIZE.   Again, CHOOSE FILE & select your photo.  It defaults with 8 shades of greys.  Try different numbers to see how it works best on your photo.  When you can distinctly see the difference in the areas of light & shadow and have one you like, save it.  The easiest way to compare for me is to print out 3 or so choices, label them with the # of shades.  (Sometimes I use a combination of 2 photos to get the look I want in certain areas.).

  To Resize:

  Open new saved posterized photo in PAINT (right click on desktop photo and go to “open with—” and select Paint) 

  Now you want to change to the actual size you want (a good size would be about 18” on the short side.)  There are rulers along the top & left side so you can see what size you have.  (If yours is not showing in inches, go to FILE, then PROPERTIES and select INCHES.)  Don’t worry about the size and the paper size you are using—this will print on multiple pages to get the size you chose.  You can then cut off the border & tape the pictures together.

  Go to HOME,  then double click on RESIZE.  This brings up the RESIZE & SKEW choice.  Keep the PERCENTAGE option checked so the relative size/shape will be the same as your photo.  The 100 x 100 that shows is the % size your photo will print.  If it’s too large, try something smaller, ex 80 x 80, if it’s too small, change to something like 125 x 125. 

  Once you have the correct size, go to FILE > Print > PAGE SETUP.  In the lower right box SCALING, choose  Adjust to 100%.  This will keep the aspect ratio the same.  Further down it will  show you how many pages it will take to produce the photo, ex 2 page by 3 pages.  Click OK.

  Go back to FILE and PRINT

  (You can also just go to Kinkos, Office Depot or Staples or a blueprint shop to get it enlarged to whatever size you want.)

  I also like to print a full -sized color copy for reference.

   TIPS:

  The eyes are one of the most important features and sometimes this area is a bit dark and hard to distinguish exactly where the pupils are, the irises, etc.  If that happens, I often make myself a cheat sheet of that area—I make a copy on the desktop, crop so just that area shows and brighten it up a bit so I can clearly see how it should look, where the lines are.  This also works with noses and mouths.  This is for reference—you will still use the colors of your original pattern, but now you know the underlying anatomy.

  Crop away as much background as possible so you’re not printing extra pages with 1” of an ear on it.

  Please call me ahead of time if you have any questions on this process of getting the right sized posterized image to bring.

  Karen Stockwell

  727-992-1068

  Karenstockwell.com

  
  

Registration for Members will open:  4/20/2026

Registration for Non-Members will open:  5/19/2026