Spring class at John C Campbell Folkschool

A beautiful week at John C Campbell Folkschool in Brasstown, NC.
It was more like summer last week at the school, lots of sun, warm temperatures and budding trees. Together with ladies from several states, we embarked on "Freeform Machine applique", creating a quilt from a favorite picture or drawing. Challenging, but so rewarding at the end of the week.
Below is the  results of lots of work and many hours of designing, cutting  and sewing.

Holly from Saint Helens, OR created her own drawing of her parents back yard, all with trees, flowers birds and my favorite; two squirrels. All the leaves are free cut, using various green  fabrics to create dimension.

If a squirrel can be cute, this one takes the price.

Most of the features here will be free form machine apppliqued to the background, and the whole piece quilted. A beautiful composition, and choice of fabrics.                                                                        

Penny, from Hayesville, NC, chose a picture of a wooden chair in the garden as her inspiration for her creation. Penny had the "largest" fabric collection of the group to play with, so it was fun to find the fabrics that was right for her quilt.

With the use of different values of the colors, she was able to create a very dimensional garden chair. The baskets and brick wall added to the depth. The floral elements and birds will be free form machine appliqued to the background and then quilting added for texture.

Jane, from Blairsville, GA, had a very special photo of her husband on their sailboat. There is a wonderful movement here, that she worked very hard to translate into fabric. I loved her excitment in using new materials together with fabrics, and many hours was spent creating the sail and boat on the water.

There are lots of details in this quilt, which is hard to see. Beautifully done. The background only needs fairly simple quilting to make the boat stand out.

Stefanie, from Forest, VA, brought a photo of the first house she and her husband had lived in, in Johnson City, TN. Part of the house was covered by a large tree, so many of the features where recalled from memory. The tree got "moved" a little to give a better view of the house. Stephanie had not quilted a whole lot, but created a stunning memory quilt this week.

Just love the country setting for Stephanie's house. It feels very real. She will finish the quilting in the background, and possibly add a border.

Jeanette, from Crossville, TN, had many great photos to choose from. She decided to work with this brilliant rooster. He certainly has an attitude! By the time Janette had the fabrics cut and fused, as well as  free form stitched, he was ready to get into trouble. The mountain background is the perfect containment for this bird. Machine quilting will add texture to the gravel and mountains. Border or no border will both be OK options for this one.

The coolest rooster in Brasstown!

We had a little fun with Jeanette's rooster, he just seemed to wander into many designs this week. He looked great in Holly's and  Penny's gardens.

Finally, the show and tell on Friday night. This is our opportunity to show all we have done and worked on for the week. The class had an impressive display at the Keith House. Thanks to all of you in this class, I had a super time and feel very fortunate  to be able to spend  a whole week with you  at this wonderful place.