Classes by Judy Dales

One of Judy's favorite quotes is "If it's not fun, why are we doing it?" and she brings that attitude to the classroom. She combines a wonderful sense of humor with an empathetic attitude. She also has the unique ability to present even the most challenging material in an understandable way. She enjoys the creative energy that is generated in a classroom situation and believes that she gains as much from a class as do the students.

All of her classes can be custom tailored to your needs. One day classes can be expanded to a longer format or several classes can be combined, allowing each group to have a class that fits their needs. The fee for a one day class is $550, subsequent days are $500 and a lecture costs $350 although $50 is deducted from the lecture fee for every workshop given at the same venue. The sponsoring organization is also expected to pay travel expenses, housing and meals.

	One Day Classes Drifting Along, Deco Lily, Curves, By Design, Soar Like An Eagle, Perfectly Painless Points, Interlocking Star Scrap Quilt, Kaleidomosaics, Waves, Wings and Other Curved Things
	Longer Format Classes Fabric Fantasies, Curved Kaleidomosaic, Star Modules, Liberated Landscapes, Dreamlike Scenes in an Impressionistic Style, Scintillating Stars
	Lectures Color Me quilts, Patience, Persistence and Perseverance, Color, One Quilter's Approach, Everything I Know About Art, I Learned from Quilting, Creating with Curves

One Day Classes
Drifting Along This interesting block can be arranged to form a number of different designs, yet is simple enough for the novice curved-seam piecer. Different block arrangements and colorations will be explored and students will learn all the techniques that insure success which include pattern making, precision marking, rotary cutting curves and accurate pinning, sewing and pressing.	Deco Lily Students will piece this whimsical curved-seam block to learn special marking, cutting and sewing techniques that make working with curves easier. The curves in this design are gentle, making it an ideal first curved-piecing project, and the block can be arranged many different ways to produce a variety of interesting designs.
Curves, By Design Learn to create curvilinear designs for piecing or appliqué through a series of graduated exercises which enable even the most timid designer to produce creative, original designs. Exercises are planned to ease students into the design process, moving gradually toward more challenging exercises and some free-form drawing. Judy believes that working with curves is easier than designing with straight lines, and that making the design process fun and enjoyable allows everyone's creativity to surface. If you have been avoiding design classes because you think you are not creative, this class will prove you wrong!	Soar Like An Eagle Practice your piecing skills on this dramatic curved-seam design and learn all the marking, cutting and sewing tricks that make multi-template, curved-seam designs easier. The techniques taught in this class will enable you to make patterns of your own original designs, opening up many creative possibilities. The eagle makes a spectacular small wallhanging when finished with several borders, or can be incorporated into a larger quilt.
Perfectly Painless Points Piece a fantasy-like, curved-seam block. Learn the marking, cutting and precision sewing tricks that make it possible to piece long, skinny tendrils, graceful curves, and sharp points. In appliqué, the excess fabric is tucked under the point, sometimes a difficult process. In piecing, it simply disappears to the back, leaving a sharp, crisp, impressive point!!	Interlocking Star Scrap Quilt This intriguing scrap design is the perfect project for using all those scraps you've been collecting! Three dark and three medium prints are used in each star to produce a three dimensional effect. Seven stars produce a small star-shaped wallhanging. adding more stars and squaring off the edges produces a lovely baby quilt, but the project can be expanded to any size, limited only by the student's ambition and variety of scraps! Students will learn to deal more skillfully with color and value while laying out the design, and the communal exchange pile increases everyone's options. A portion of the design can be pieced in class to produce a sample to guide the completion of the project at home.
Kaleidomosaics Beautiful patterns drafted from a Circle: The art of drafting beautiful patterns from circles is an ancient one, practiced long before the advent of our present numerical system. Ancient artists created mosaic tile designs, inlaid wood patterns and other intricate designs using only a compass and a straight edge. Quilters can use this same method to produce designs uniquely suited to patchwork. Class will begin with several simple exercises to familiarize students with the compass. Then we proceed step-by-step through a variety of designs in order to understand the process. Students can then experiment with this method to create their own designs. Basic class is one day, but can be expanded to multi-day format.	Waves, Wings and Other Curved Things Introduction to free-form curves. Students will experiment with several design methods to discover the many possibilities of curves in piecing. An 8 by 14 inch bird design will be constructed so that students understand pattern enlargement, template construction and piecing techniques.

Longer Format Classes
Fabric Fantasies The ability to draw and piece curves adds an exciting, new dimension to quiltmaking and allows fantasies of the mind to become reality. A variety of simple exercises will enable students to create original, flowing curved designs ranging from repeat-block designs to totally free-form, abstract images. Students will sew a practice block in order to perfect piecing skill, then learn enlargement techniques and unique template methods to produce a precision pattern for their own design. Fabric interpretation will emphasize choosing prints to enhance the flow of the curves. This class will help quilters take the first step into original design work. Four or five days.	Curved Kaleidomosaic Students will create an original curved design in a wedge which will be repeated 10 times and rotated around a central point to form a circular wall quilt. Emphasis will be on designing with free-form curves, color interpretation of the design and precision curved-seam piecing. Three or four days.
Star Modules Students will create an original five-pointed star design using "The Lute of Pythagoras" as a starting point. This geometric figure, which consists of nesting stars in graduated sizes, can be used as a complete unit, or broken down into individual star modules to create designs ranging in style from very structured to completely random. To be covered in class: drafting of the pentagon, the five-pointed star and "The Lute", pattern and template making, color interpretation of the design, and piecing technique. Three or four day: original five-pointed star design. One day: pattern provided.	Liberated Landscapes, Dreamlike Scenes in an Impressionistic Style Using a photograph, postcard or painting as inspiration, piece a simple landscape, then embellish and add fine details with simple appliqué techniques. Landscape will be segmented, then reassembled with random strip-pieced inserts to create an abstract, dream-like scene. The inserts blur the image, giving the piece an impressionistic flair. Four days.
Scintillating Stars Create an original design consisting of irregular sized, eight-pointed stars connected with curved seams. Template making, color interpretation and piecing techniques, including set-in corners and sharp points, will be covered. Three or four days.

Lectures
Color Me quilts When Judy's four-year-old son drew a portrait of her, he gave her a patchwork face. That drawing was both insightful and prophetic. Today Judy is described by Carter Houck as one of the "new wave of art quilters, each of whom has developed a style of her own, often as recognizable as any painter's". In this lecture, Judy will share with you the journey that has transformed her into an artist. Enjoy the stories, both serious and humorous, associated with the quilts that are the milestones of this remarkable transformation.	Patience, Persistence and Perseverance When you see a stunning quilt, are you impressed, excited and intimidated? Masterpiece quilts do not spring effortlessly from the fingertips of talented quilters. Often they take more determination than artistic ability and are the culmination of years of study, experimentation, learning, growth and effort. In this lecture, we will see the growth in Judy's work, as well as that of some famous and not-so-famous quilters. the key word is growth, and the common ingredients are patience, persistence and perseverance.
Color, One Quilter's Approach Inspirational look at the way Judy approaches color. She shares her pragmatic, non-technical method of color selection and give you some hints for dealing with color in your quilts. Judy uses a multitude of fabrics in her quilts, including decorator fabric, to produce a sophisticated scrap style. Learn how she does it, as well as where and how she finds the interesting fabrics she uses.	Everything I Know About Art, I Learned from Quilting A thoughtful look at the mental, emotional and creative processes involved in making quilts. Whether you consider your quilts to be Art, folk art, craft or hobby, the pursuit of quiltmaking demands that you deal with motivational issues, time management, uncertainty, fear of failure and other anxieties associated with any kind of artmaking. Judy explores these issues and shares her personal solutions to these and other creative roadblocks.
Creating with Curves Judy shares the inspirations and special techniques that enable her to machine piece fabulous curved-seam designs and shows the quilts that are the result.

Website & Contents Copyright Š 1997-2002 Judy B. Dales
Last updated: Friday, February 21, 2003
This website was produced by Elizabeth Nephew and updated by Diane Fixx