Now that we are back to gathering in person, at least most of the time, we’re excited about our inspiring new workshops with a variety of instructors for 2023.
We have scheduled in-person workshops for March, May, September and November at Washtenaw Community College. If unplanned circumstances arise, all our instructors are prepared to switch to Zoom should it become necessary.
After you have looked at all of the classes shown below and reviewed the payment options, refund policy and are an active member of the guild you are ready to register!
Questions? Contact workshopregistrar@gaaqg.com
Note: If your membership has lapsed please contact membership@gaaqg.com. Do not join as a new member.
Online registration requires one of the following payment types:
When paying by check, the online store assigns a pending status.
Mail your check, including your name and phone number, to:
GAAQG Treasurer
Melissa Gregoire
1414 S. Dowling
Westland, MI 48186
Note: When paying by check for either an online or paper registration, your registration is pending until the check is both received and cleared. You will be notified when payment is completed and your registration is confirmed.
Mail-in registration requires a personal check and a completed paper registration form. Please mail both to the GAAQG Treasurer.
Mail your check, including your name and phone number, to:
GAAQG Treasurer
Melissa Gregoire
1414 S. Dowling
Westland, MI 48186
Note: When paying by check for either an online or paper registration, your registration is pending until the check is both received and cleared. You will be notified when payment is completed and your registration is confirmed.
Before placing your order, please review the GAAQG Workshop Registration & Cancellation Policy.
When a workshop sells out, it will be removed from the online store’s list of available products. In this event, you can be added to a waiting list by emailing workshopregistrar@gaaqg.com.
After you have looked at all of the classes shown below and reviewed the payment options, refund policy and are an active member of the guild you are ready to register! …..
Note: If your membership has lapsed please contact membership@gaaqg.com. Do not join as a new member.
After a varied career in the design world, Jane Sassaman began to quilt in 1980. She found that these “soft paintings” satisfied the draftsman, the craftsman and the artist in her. Consequently, she is now a dedicated (some say “obsessed”) quilt artist and fabric designer.
Her art quilts have been shown in many national and international exhibits, including Quilt National 1989 through 2005 and Contemporary American Quilts, the first major exhibit of American art quilts in England. Her quilt “Willow” was named as One of the One Hundred Best American Quilts of the Century. Jane is also the author of “The Quilted Garden”. The book includes twenty years of her work and exercises for making nature-inspired quilts.
Jane’s love for historic decorative arts can be seen in all facets of her work, but it is especially evident in the exuberant fabric she is currently designing for FreeSpirit. Her designs are oversized and colorful and have been coined as “William Morris on anti-depressants”. They are created for quilts, wearables and home decorating. Her latest book, Patchwork Sassaman Style, beautifully illustrates her fabric “in action”.
Skill Level: Beginner to Advance
Machine embroidery adds personality to your quilts and needlework. The stitches you choose affect the emotion and atmosphere of your work. Jane Sassaman will teach you how to make a simple sampler using a repeated leaf applique. By changing the finishing embroidery stiches, each leaf takes on a different personality and attitude. This is your chance to get familiar with the stitches contained in your sewing machine, or to sample some stitches you have never tried before. Whatever machine you have, we will try to find the stiches which speak your language and will make your needle projects more expressive. No kits or patterns are required.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
This workshop is full.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Nature is an endless source of inspiration. Jane Sassaman will examine a wide variety of artists’ interpretations of nature before beginning to teach you to manipulate natural forms yourself. Through a series of exercises you will experiment with abstraction and exaggeration to capture the essence and energy of your favorite flora and achieve dramatic visual effects.
Drawing skills are not needed but participants should have a strong interest in developing their own design language and unique visual symbols. This class is especially beneficial for the drawing impaired and the tragically literal! No kits or patterns are required.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
Brenda Gael Smith creates textile paintings and sketches made from a rich palette of her hand-dyed fabrics complemented by extensive, textural stitching demonstrating the transformative power of stitch. Abstraction is her persistent and insistent force. Working improvisationally, she captures the essence of her subjects to impart a sense of wonder of the natural world and a strong affinity to place.
Daily walks are a creative habit integral to her studio practice whether she is at home or travelling. By closely observing her surroundings, and taking hundreds of photos, she has a bountiful inspiration bank that informs her work. She also embraces the serendipity factor. From the dye pot, to the design wall, to the sewing machine, she is always open to the possibility of a glorious accident.
Please note: This is a 3-hour workshop* from 6:00-9:00 p.m., EST (due to time difference between here and Australia)
Skill Level: All Skill Levels
Brenda Gael Smith will teach an effective, improvisational strip-piecing technique to create new “fabrics” layer by layer and explore design possibilities for incorporating these strip sets into your own compositions.
Workshop includes comprehensive after-class materials. See the Serendipity Student Gallery for more ideas on how to create your own design.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
This workshop is full
Please note: This is a 3-hour workshop* from 2:00-5:00 p.m., EST (due to time difference between here and Australia)
Skill Level: All Skill Levels
Brenda Gael Smith will teach you versatile methods of piecing expressive fine lines. You will undertake improvisational design exercises to create small compositions. Workshop includes comprehensive after-class materials. See the Serendipity Student Gallery for ideas on how you can incorporate this technique into your own quilt design.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
Irene Roderick’s artwork is currently grounded in the textile arts, focused on quilt making and fabric dyeing. Trained as a painter and she has always been interested in pattern and color and how these elements can evoke emotional and political responses. A few years ago, she encountered modern quilting and loved the idea of making a “utilitarian painting.” She learned to quilt and accidentally discovered improvisational quilting, an intuitive, spontaneous process she calls “dancing with the wall.” The technique opened up a new-found creativity for her. She describes this as entirely intuitive and visceral.
Skill Level: Beginning to advanced
Using only two contrasting colors, Irene Roderick will teach you how to construct the individual components used to make an improv quilt in her style. Discover how fun it is to make many types of stripes, triangles, squares and curves in new and original ways. You will take home a 20-24” pillow top or mini-quilt ready to quilt as well as all the techniques to jump into a full-size improv quilt.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
Making a portrait in any medium can seem difficult. Michelle Jackson will guide you through a step-by-step process to create your realistic portrait in fabric. It’s easier than you think, and you’ll have lots of fun along the way! The first day you will evaluate your photos, render a line drawing (don’t worry, you don’t have to draw them free hand!), and do a value study to prepare for color and fabric selection. She will share with you her view on color and the emotions color can evoke so that you feel confident choosing fabrics for day two. Near the end of day one, or that evening you will have your line drawing enlarged, select a background fabric, and transfer your line drawing to the fabric back. (No Worries! All will be explained!) The second day the portraits start to come to life. You will learn how to make the pattern pieces and start to build the portrait a piece at a time. It’s so fun to see them start to look like real people.
Skill Level: All levels – even people with no sewing experience have had success with this class
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
Audrey Esarey has always identified as a maker, and she has sewn for as long as she can remember, but only began quilting in 2005. In 2018, she set a personal goal to exhibit her work in a juried quilt show, which motivated her to design and create a series of original quilts. Since then, her quilts have been exhibited and recognized at Quilt National, International Quilt Festival, and QuiltCon. She shares her creative process on Instagram via @CottonandBourbon
Skill Level: Confident Beginner
This is a quilt made using paper piecing and curved piecing techniques. Audrey Esarey will cover the basic concepts of paper piecing on an arc, curved piecing, and precision piecing. She will also discuss color options and quilting ideas. Students will finish 1-2 blocks during class.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Mobius Radial is a wall hanging made using paper piecing, curved piecing, and partial seam techniques. Audrey Esarey will teach the basic concepts of paper piecing on an arc, curved piecing, and precision piecing. There will be a focus on curved piecing and partial seam construction. She will also discuss quilting ideas. Students will complete a portion of the quilt during class. The Mobius Radial Quilt finishes at 30 x 30 inches.
Click on the date of the workshop in the box below for supply lists and details.
