May Workshop: Dawn Bianco - The Elemental Quilted Jacket (05/20/2026)

Wed, 20 May 2026 13:00:00 GMT

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

June Workshop: Portraits & Pets with Karen Stockwell (06/17/2026)

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:00:00 GMT

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

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

Asheville Quilt Guild upcoming events

May Workshop: Dawn Bianco - The Elemental Quilted Jacket (05/20/2026)

June Workshop: Portraits & Pets with Karen Stockwell (06/17/2026)