• Formal lectures
  • One or Two Hour Lecture/Demos
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Joanie’s goal is to provide your event with an entertaining yet educational experience. She shares her expertise, favorite supplies, construction and quilting techniques used in creating her artwork. Learn how she has elevated her standards in each step of the process to a level needed for competition. Finally, she inspires her audience with her quilts, motivating them to value their own quilting gifts and to move beyond their current skill level to create the best projects possible.

Each information-packed presentation includes professionally photographed slides showing Joanie’s award-winning quilts, a question and answer session, a chance to take a close look at Joanie’s quilts and the opportunity to purchase her books, patterns and quilting design collections.

A Quarter Center of Quilts

Join me for a journey though a quarter century of quilting experiences. This presentation is the accumulation of my work over the past twenty-five years. I will introduce you to many styles popular over the years, showing great diversity of techniques. Many of the quilts shown are my original designs. A variety of techniques used in constructing the prize-winning quilts will be explored including my recent pursuit of Heirloom Machine Quilting. This lecture appeals to a wide range of experience and to non-quilters.

Heirloom Quilting by Machine

Heirloom Machine Quilting is an art form used to stitch the layers of a quilt together producing a deeply sculptured surface. As the name implies, this technique is based on the look of the heirloom quilts of the past, yet differs significantly, because with this technique quilters use their domestic (home) sewing machine to achieve a similar look. Techniques, supplies, procedures for planning, and design are included in the 45-minute slide presentation.

Sentimental Journey

The art of Heirloom Machine Quilting has enabled me to create intricate designs on the quilt surface through refined free-motion. The quilts I make are deeply rooted in tradition and honor relationships in my life. They display quilted images through thread illustration, unusual background fabrics and quilted textures. Travel with me on an in-depth journey through the process of the making of these of inspiring, award-winning quilts, answering the questions: “How did you do that?” and “Where do I start?”

One or Two Hour Lecture Demos

These information-packed sessions include PowerPoint presentations that enable the entire audience to see the demonstration projected on your screen. The length can vary for your event, with the one-hour geared more to a lecture only presentation and the two-hour format providing more time to demonstrate the processes.

Background Bonanza

Filling the background of a quilt with interesting patterns is not only possible with machine quilting, I encourage it! From stippling to simple grids, background fillers can take us on an adventure of discovery. They can take command with a distinct purpose or create a silent foundation that allows dominant images to shine. From frolicking fills to formal grids, the texture of the background for the quilt is explored in this presentation. Take a look in the Gallery at my quilts to see how the background fills are used for structure and formality. (Edge-to-edge style patterns will not be covered.)

Marking Solutions

If you dread the marking process, are confused by all of the different tools and are challenged by difficult to mark fabrics, I have ideas for you! Learn about the latest innovations in marking tools, how to change the size of designs and make blocks designs into multi-sized borders. Transferring designs from paper, using a light box as well as many other inventive ideas will be covered. Bring your marking problem for the question and answer session, your note-taking supplies and be prepared to be wowed!

Navigating and Stitching Directions for Machine Quilters

Did you ever consider how many similarities there are between free-motion quilting and driving a car? How do you know where to drive the machine without a plan for each design? Join me for a light-hearted adventure of understanding the process of machine quilting. From planning intelligently, to beginning and ending your stitches, what to stitch first, last and why, this Lecture/Demo/Solution Session is your travel pass to a future filled with successful machine quilting.

Tools, Tips and Tricks of the Trade

Learn about my favorite tools as well as many special hints collected over twenty-five years of working with numerous styles and techniques for quilting. Learn which tools I really use in the construction and assembly of my quilt tops, as well as what works best for the machine quilting process. From the purchase of the fabric through the final stitch, learn the tips and tricks that make the process go smoothly.

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