Workshops – Des Moines Area Quilter's Guild

Register for Workshops

NOTE: Online registration will be available after the December Tea.

Please register for Workshops online or by mail. Click a button below. Your registration will be complete and your spot reserved once we receive your payment via check or paypal. Space is limited, the program chair will notify you if the class is full and will keep a waiting list. Payment will be refunded if you register for a class that is full.

PDF Registration Form

Information about the

Location

All meetings and workshops will be held at the West Des Moines Christian Church at 4501 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines. To get there from Interstate 35, exit at Mills Civic Parkway, exit 70. Turn east onto Mills Civic Parkway and drive about 0.9 mile. The West Des Moines Christian Church will be on the north side of Mills Civic Parkway. Meetings are in the Sanctuary in Building 2 and workshops are in Building 3.

2025 Workshop Schedule

Workshops are all 9 am to 4 pm. A full day of learning & fun!

Tony Jacobson: January 28–29

Workshop–Storm at Sea Quilt, January 29: Tony will take you on an adventure across the sea when he teaches his Storm at Sea class. Two versions will be offered which will show the versatility of this traditional pattern. One version will feature three prints—plus a border print. This version will have waves of color dancing diagonally across the quilt. The second version features four fabrics—plus a border print. This version is a more traditional version with a twist to give it a little bit of a glow as you work toward the center.

Lisa Binkley: February 25–27

Workshop–The Art of Hand Stitching Beads on Cloth, February 26-27: This 2 day workshop begins by introducing all the stitches that make up the backbone of bead embroidery.Students advance to learn ways to beautifully and securely incorporate larger beads, buttons, and cabochons into their fiber work. They also explore a variety of edge stitches and fringe techniques while continuing to work on a sampler for future reference and inspiration. The class culminates with students beginning to develop their own bead embroidery style while exploring designs that range from sparsely-stitched individual beads to densely beaded focal areas. Students have opportunities to explore known variations on introduced stitches as well as develop their own visual vocabulary of bead embroidery.

Class time is a mixture of sampling bead embroidery techniques and exploring variations on those stitches based on each individual student’s interests and aesthetic. Each day contains a mixture of hand stitching, viewing images and examples of bead embroidery for inspiration and technique illustration, and time sharing discoveries with one another. Each student goes home with a detailed sampler containing all the many bead embroidery stitches learned and developed in class as well as a color booklet with information about stitches, bead and thread selection, and other important information for continued exploration of bead embroidery beyond the classroom.

Pat Pauly: March 25–27

Workshop–The New Big Leaf, March 26: Build this large graphic leaf using freezer paper to form the design templates for a final 24” x 24” hanging, or combine with three additional blocks to make a stunning art quilt. Pat Pauly will show you how to transform a line drawing into templates, how to choose fabric and color, and assemble this “Big Leaf.” At the end of this class you will know how to translate your own designs using this freezer paper method.

Workshop–A Dozen Ways: Design for Art Quilts, March 27: This workshop reveals tips, ideas, and techniques used for starting from scratch for original works. We’ll use methods for starting from nothing, to how to read a sketch for design, and learning how to scale up. Bring your notebooks, try some design exercises, and take away more than a dozen ideas for kick starting original contemporary art.

Kyra Reps: April 22–23

Workshop–Into the Kaleidescape, April 23: Circles, triangles, shapes galore! Every mandala is as unique as your fingertip! Let’s dive into our creativity and create your own unique mandala kaleidoscope. This

class is product specific to the APLIQUICK tools and method for creating one sided fusible shapes with perfectly turned edge applique mandala as unique as you are!

Sherri Lynn Woods: June 24–26

Workshop 1–Improv Mashup, June 25: In this workshop, you will learn to interrupt fixed-pattern design habits of sameness to discover new aesthetic pathways through mismatch and the unexpected. We will accomplish this with a playful series of timed sewing sessions to create spontaneous patchwork segments guided by randomly chosen prompts. Learn how to juxtapose diverse outcomes into single dynamic composition and experience how abstract narratives are surprisingly revealed when patterns collide.

Workshop 2–Stack & Cut Shirt Sleeves, June 26: This will be a skills based class where you will learn Denim/Jean deconstruction; Basic ruler free piecing technique; Simple improv curved piecing; Darting on and across the seam to correct patchwork bubbles; Order of sewing/ composition engineering; How to utilize skinny sashing and filler to equalize different size squares or sections; Color substitutions and shifts.

Sharon Wasteney: July 22–24

Workshop 1–Fabric Dyeing: Color By Design, July 23: Learn to use fiber reactive dyes on cotton fabric using two different methods with separate results. Go home with 2 yards PFD (provided) colorfast dyed fabric ready for use in your next quilted project.

Workshop 2–Every Leaf Speaks Bliss, July 24: Participants in this class will create a collage sampler of leaves on hand dyed vintage linens using at least three different techniques including felting with wool, silk and cotton; embroidered leaves with decorative threads and beads; and metallic painting on synthetic fiber. Students will get in touch with the “artist within” while creating their personal design. A kit to be purchased as part of the class will provide most of the supplies needed for completion.

Linda Hahn: October 28–30

Workshop 1–New York Beauty, October 29: This design is only available in WORKSHOPS with Linda. Not available in a book or pattern or from anyone else!! Learn Linda’s ONE PIN technique to create perfect New York Beauty blocks on your first attempt….no puckers….no ripping…no cussing! You will then incorporate those blocks into a larger block that has NO set in seams. Linda will also demonstrate how to make a miniature version using the scraps and cutaways from making the larger project.

Workshop 2– Royal Ensemble Sampler, October 30: Workshop will begin with a powerpoint presentation which will discuss the block components and the block rocking concept. Students will be able to see over 20 variations of the Country Crown block designed by adding a color or rotating a patch. Students will then enjoy seeing the 10 quilts in the book PLUS numerous variations on each design, followed by 10 new designs. Demonstrations for making the corner units using easy foundation piecing as well as the other block components. Once students have completed their block components, we’ll move on to finishing the block.