GOODBYE TO THE GRID – Session Finished!

July 27th, 2010

The most recent session of Goodbye to the Grid, my newest online art quilt design workshop at Quilt University, has just closed.  The students were great, they worked hard and produced some amazing work.  We all had a great time making art quilts from scratch!

I’m sorry if you missed out on this super opportunity to study with me online, but the class will run again soon.  Check my class schedule and find more information at Quilt University to find out when the next session of Goodbye to the Grid will be held.  Be sure to have a good look at the Quilt U Class Catalog while you’re there.  You may find other online quilt classes there that you would enjoy taking.

Glissando

Glissando, art quilt by Dena Crain

Truly, even YOU can be an art quilter!  See you in class very soon!

By the way, see more art quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University students’ work.

Dena Crain

DARNED QUILTS – Online Quilt Class Scheduled

July 21st, 2010

Darned Quilts, a wonderful, fun way to learn about the importance of color and value contrast in quilt design while you make original quilt art, has been scheduled to open again at Quilt University on October 1, 2010Registrations open on August 27, 2010.

This online quilt design workshop presents raw edge piecing as a construction technique that makes it possible to create a composition from a single piece of cloth. Learn more about the class here and find additional details at Quilt U.

"Golden Mist," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

"Golden Mist," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

Join me for this great chance to play with color and value contrasts in quilt design. Mark your calendar now for May 1 so you will be among the first to register!

By the way, see more Darned Quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University student gallery, but whatever you do, don’t miss seeing the . . .

BEST DARNED QUILTS!

ALUMNAE EXHIBITION

Dena Crain

DARNED QUILTS – Session Ended!

July 20th, 2010

The most recent session of Darned Quilts online quilt class at Quilt University has just ended.  This online quilt design workshop presents raw edge piecing as a construction technique that makes it possible to create a composition from a single piece of cloth.  Learn more about the class here and find additional details at Quilt U.

"Golden Mist," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

"Golden Mist," a Darned Quilt by Dena Crain

Join me for this great chance to play with color and value contrasts in quilt design.  Sign up NOW!

By the way, see more Darned Quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University student gallery, but whatever you do, don’t miss seeing the . . .

BEST DARNED QUILTS!

ALUMNAE EXHIBITION

Dena Crain

MATH FOR QUILTERS – Online Quilt Class Scheduled

July 15th, 2010

Math for Quilters, an online quilt class I teach at Quilt University, has been scheduled to run again on October 29, 2010. Registrations for this session will open on September 24, 2010. Mark these dates on your calendar now, so you will be certain not to miss it!

Math Tools for Quilters

Math Tools for Quilters

This is the kind of class everyone who quilts ought to take. In three lessons, one each week, you will learn how to draft an entire quilt plan from a set of blocks you already have, or by making new blocks to fit a bed of your choice the way YOU want it to fit, including optional sashing, cornerstones, borders and binding. You will learn how to:

  • measure a bed properly to establish the size of a quilt,
  • analyze the symmetry and structure of any quilt block,
  • calculate how to resize a block to fit into your design,
  • draw a block from a miniature sketch to its full size,
  • turn your block drawing into a pattern and make templates,
  • manage both straight and on point block settings with ease,
  • figure the amount of each fabric you will need for your quilt – without wastage,
  • determine how much money your quilt will cost to make, and
  • examine strategies for setting a fair and reasonable price for your quilt before you sell it.

A bonus lesson introduces the connection between quilting and advanced mathematics like the Sacred Rectangle, Golden Mean and Fibonacci Series. What’s that? You say you already know how to do all these things? Fine. YOU may be excused from this excellent opportunity to grasp the mathematics of quilting and put them to use to your best advantage. But if you are one of the folks who:

  • struggles with a calculator,
  • wastes too many hours trying to figure out how to make that quilt you can visualize but cannot plan,
  • cannot afford not to care how much fabric you purchase, or
  • has some vague dream of one day selling a quilt or two, then -

This class is for YOU!  See you at Quilt U!
Dena Crain

Thread Color Conversion Charts

July 14th, 2010

This is just in from one of my Quilt University students, quoted here with permission:

Regarding color….I have super color vision. It is a very rare occurrence (one in a few million) that only women can have. A pediatrician discovered mine as a teen when testing my color vision. I can literally see color nuances others can’t. In an ironic twist, one of the ways it can be diagnosed is “backwards”. Women with super color vision are likely to give birth to color blind sons. Three of my four sons are color blind. I’m also legally blind in one eye. It’s feast or famine in this house. LOL!

I used to be a sewing machine dealer and I carried EVERY color in EVERY line of thread we carried and we carried a lot of lines. Our selection and my help choosing colors were one of our trademarks as a sewing resource for our customers. We had thousands and thousands of colors even though we were a relatively small store. . . . . . I thought I’d [share] my concerns over color conversion charts and something I trained my customers to do when choosing colors that are tones in a range.

The most important difference in color relations is their interplay with each other. Nuances in tone-on-tone color groups are much tougher to do right than, say, complimentary colors where the contrast is high. But you can rely on the professionals who created any particular line of color. When you convert one brand’s colors to another via a chart you may be have been drawn to three colors (say, shades of green) that look beautiful together but when converted to another brand….even though they are indeed the closest match, are just OFF. So if you choose a set of yellow-y greens in one line and convert them, they may appear completely unrelated (or more likely, just not appealing) to each other in the new line because they literally could not translate.

In my experience it is best to pick three greens(continuing my example) in the new line that inter-relate to each other well even if they are, say, blue-er than the “originals” you are trying to convert from. Does that make sense? In other words, trust YOUR instincts and YOUR color sense and the professionals who designed any particular color palette for a line of fabrics or thread to have the range and interplay be the most important thing rather than the nuance of shade. Squinting to blur colors lets you get another perspective on what works and what doesn’t. Most projects will look richer when the interplay is spot on even if the color tone is tweaked slightly.

I particularly like my student’s remark about trusting your intuition and your personal sense of color.  Can you imagine how boring the world would be if we all handled color in exactly the same manner?

This student also said:

Thank you, Dena for your generosity, common sense and all around courtesy and friendliness. You teach a mean class!

I like that, too!

By the way, have you tried Aurifil threads yet?  If not, you should do!  They are gorgeous!!

Aurifil Thread Suitcase

Aurifil Thread Suitcase

Happy coloring!  Comments and feedback welcome below.

Dena Crain

MATH FOR QUILTERS – Session Ended!

July 6th, 2010

The most recent session of Math for Quilters, the one class at Quilt University that EVERYONE should take, has just finished.  We all worked hard and had a lot of fun!

I’m sorry if you missed out on this great opportunity to study with me online, but the class will run again soon.  Check my class schedule and find more information at Quilt University to find out when the next session of Math for Quilters will be held.  Be sure to have a good look at the Quilt U Class Catalog while you’re there.  You may find other online quilt classes there that you would enjoy taking.

Math Tools for Quilters

Math Tools for Quilters

I look forward to meeting you in the next session of Math for Quilters.  See you there!
Dena Crain

DESIGNER PINWHEELS – Registration Closing Soon!

June 26th, 2010

Designer Pinwheels, an online quilt design class based on four-fold rotational symmetry of a right triangle, is open now for registration at Quilt University, but registrations will be closing very soon.

Master the secrets of intuitive tessellation as this class puts a new spin on an old favorite.  Read the full class description here, then check out the online quilt class details at Quilt University.

Lilac and Clover, a Designer Pinwheel quilt

Lilac and Clover, a Designer Pinwheel quilt

Quick – get registered now while there are still seats open!  See you there!

By the way, see more Designer Pinwheel quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University student gallery.

Dena Crain

CRYSTAL QUILTS – Registration Closing Soon!

June 19th, 2010

Crystal Quilts, the ultimate in innovative quilt design, is now open for registration at Quilt University, but watch out!  Registrations will soon be closing!

Learn the secrets of symmetry and how to use them to best advantage to make these stunning quilt designs, each one an original quilt design made by YOU!  Get more complete information about this wonderful online quilt design class here and at Quilt University.

Fantasy

I shall be expecting you in class on the opening day!  Register here.

By the way, see more Crystal Quilts in my gallery and be sure to have a look at my Quilt University students’ work.

Dena Crain

AfricaGoal: Southward Bound!

June 14th, 2010

Well, they came and they went!

The AfricaGoal team showed up in beautiful downtown Kampi ya Samaki yesterday afternoon about an hour before the World Cup Soccer game began.  Remarkable to see how quickly they set up an open-sided tent, the satellite dish, the projection screen and projector, got hooked up and had an image!  The crew works smoothly together without major direction, each member knowing intuitively where and how their strengths are needed.  Everything went like clockwork after a minor panic that a signal was not coming in.  It turned out someone had forgotten to flip a switch!

A crowd began to gather.  Mothers and children, older men, young lads with time on their hands and not very bright prospects for the future–they all appeared from every corner of the village.  As they gathered, local leaders began to speak about the importance of learning more about HIV-AIDS and the responsibility that everyone shares for working to keep the community safe.  A local health nurse spoke very frankly and openly about what is needed, what each person needs to do and/or not to in order to protect themselves and others from infection.  The village’s chief spoke out firmly about the risks, the dangers, and the need, if all else fails, to ABSTAIN!

Apart from the game itself, which everyone enjoyed and of course cheered hugely when Ghana scored against Serbia, the most popular thing were the AfricaGoal team’s T-shirts.  Dark green, emblazoned with large white letters, “Africa Wins–Every time YOU prevent HIV!”  I was presented with one of these T-shirts myself, and shall wear it proudly whenever I go to Kampi!

Having the AfricaGoal team with us for dinner was great!  The ten team members plus three camera crew (check them out at http://www.africagoal.com/team.html) from a company that is accompanying the team, producing a photo-journal of their safaris, were joined by a couple of our neighbors, long time friends of the family and the team members.  In all, we fed 19 people.  The team and crew members had been traveling or working all day with no time out for lunch, so a hot meal was much appreciated and there was laughter throughout the house.  Everyone managed to find a place to sleep and got a good night’s rest.  They were up early and had breakfast on time this morning, then packed and departed for Nairobi.  Tonight they will be broadcasting the next World Cup game in the Dagoretti community outside Nairobi proper.  Tomorrow, they will set off for Tanzania.

It’s so very heartwarming for us to watch these young people give selflessly of themselves.  Thus far, their tour has been easy, with welcoming accommodations, healthy food, a chance to shower and clean up at every stop.  After tomorrow, they can expect nightly accommodations in low cost African “hoteli’s,” rough driving all day, meals of mealies, posho and the odd bit of goat or chicken, mechanical breakdowns (there’s already been at least one of those), rivers to ford, and other unforeseen hardships.  Nevertheless, they have undertaken AfricaGoal with loving hearts and high-minded good spirits.  Let us all wish them the very best of luck as they soldier on to South Africa over the next couple of weeks!

To AfricaGoal: “Salaama safiri!”

Dena Crain

AfricaGoal in Baringo

June 11th, 2010

We’re all so excited!  My stepdaughter Mary Leakey is coming to Lake Baringo with her AfricaGoal team.  Here to broadcast one of the World Cup soccer games out of Cape Town, the AfricaGoal team will carry digital equipment, screens, projector and the works so they can share what’s happening in South Africa with the villagers of Kampi ya Samaki and surrounds.  While the game is in progress, the team will be handing out AIDS awareness information and condoms.  AfricaGoal‘s objective is to tackle AIDS at the grassroots level, and the AfricaGoal team found a great way to get everyone to pay attention to them.

We’re delighted that we will be hosting the entire team from the time they arrive on Sunday until they leave on Monday morning.  For us, it means a very full house and lots of empty tummies to fill with good food, but we’ve always enjoyed entertaining and these guests will be delighted with whatever hospitality we can provide.  They are looking forward to a long, difficult, dirty and uncomfortable journey all the way back “down south,” broadcasting and passing out AIDS materials all along the way.  Tonight they are in Mbita on the shore of Lake Victoria; tomorrow they will be in the tea country around Sotik, on Sunday here at Kampi ya Samaki at Lake Baringo, and on Monday they are off to Tanzania.

With support from the Canadian Government, UN-AIDS, SAFAIDS and many other reputable organizations, we’re hoping this year’s AfricaGoal will be more successful than ever!  Won’t you please take a look at the AfricaGoal website and help us ensure its success?  Donations there are most welcome and truly will help in the fight against AIDS!

AfricaGoal Broadcast

AfricaGoal Broadcast

Dena Crain