Our designer!

[Constance G.]

This weekend I had the great fortune to take classes from Sue Nickels at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium! (Raw edge appliqué and machine quilting). Both classes were outstanding! Content-rich, well organized, and with the best demos I've ever had in a quilt class (she uses a video camera and projector so every student has a perfect view). Besides all that, she is a really nice person. In one class she had some action photos of her quilting the BOM!

I thought I would share my photo op with you...I feel like my block has now been blessed! I made her aware of the show and tell for the BOM, and she said that she'll try to check it out in the coming months, since the next 4 months will all be Sue's appliqué borders.

BTW, for those who are too far away to attend class with Sue in person, she now has some classes on creativebug, which is a Craftsy-type online learning site.

http://www.creativebug.com/workshops...chine-quilting

[Susan B.]

I've been wondering where you've been, Connie, now we know! Glad you had a great class

[Andree B.]

Oh this is great! I can't wait to have my class with her at the Vermont Quilt Festival!

So you brought one of your blocks to show her, what was the project you worked on, in class?

Andrée

[Susan B.]

I just saw a picture of Pat Holly's miniature Tiger quilt. Does Sue show you how to do those multiple teeny weeny pieces?

Does she ever have pokies on any of her pieces?

[Judith A.]

Hi Susan,
What is a poky?

Judy Austin (just retired and getting back into quilting)

[Rita C.]

Connie you have been having way too much fun lately! Lucky you. And what a great testimonial for one of Sue's classes. Don't suppose she is planning a trip to Ireland any time soon.

[Margo C.]

Hi Susan,
What is a poky?

Judy Austin (just retired and getting back into quilting)

You get "pokies" when your tension isn't right when machine quilting.

You see a dot of the bobbin thread poking through on the top of the quilt, or a dot of the top thread poking through on the back of the quilt.

[Judith A.]

Thank you Margo!

Judy

[Susan B.]

Actually, I was thinking that pokies are the stray bits of thread that happen to escape the blanket or applique stitching on raw-edge applique.

[E.M. T.]

They all qualify !! :lol:

[Constance G.]

Oh this is great! I can't wait to have my class with her at the Vermont Quilt Festival!

So you brought one of your blocks to show her, what was the project you worked on, in class?

Andrée

My Friday class was machine stitched raw-edge appliqué. It was really more a technique class, but we did do a simple flower and bud appliqué on a 12 inch block. I peppered her with questions about the "whys" of how she does things, and she had great explanations for everything. Sue also showed us how to do a very cool clamshell edging for the block we made. On Saturday, I took her feather quilting class. Most of the class time was spent in doing practice exercises, but we did start an 18 inch wholecloth quilt that Sue had pre-marked before class. No "big" projects from either class, but that suits me just fine...the last thing I need is more UFOs! :shock:

[Andree B.]

Oh this is great! I can't wait to have my class with her at the Vermont Quilt Festival!

So you brought one of your blocks to show her, what was the project you worked on, in class?

Andrée

My Friday class was machine stitched raw-edge appliqué. It was really more a technique class, but we did do a simple flower and bud appliqué on a 12 inch block. I peppered her with questions about the "whys" of how she does things, and she had great explanations for everything. Sue also showed us how to do a very cool clamshell edging for the block we made. On Saturday, I took her feather quilting class. Most of the class time was spent in doing practice exercises, but we did start an 18 inch wholecloth quilt that Sue had pre-marked before class. No "big" projects from either class, but that suits me just fine...the last thing I need is more UFOs! :shock:

Thanks! I'm taking the raw-edge appliqué class... No more UFO's - I can relate to that!
Andrée

[Denise L.]

I took that feathered class at Mancuso last year. She has a very relaxed style of teaching. Learned a lot.

Denise

[Constance G.]

:!:

I just saw a picture of Pat Holly's miniature Tiger quilt. Does Sue show you how to do those multiple teeny weeny pieces?

Does she ever have pokies on any of her pieces?

I asked her about Pat's miniature quilts, such as Tiny Tigers 2. The technique is similar, but not identical. Pat uses a lot of silks in her miniatures, and fine polyester thread. She also scales down the size of her blanket stitch, with the understanding that her pieces will NEVER be used or washed; strictly hung on the wall and therefore not in need of heavy-duty blanket stitching.

Sue had a lot of quilts with her, and I didn't see ANY fraying in the appliqués!

Sue is a fan of cotton threads, and she uses 40-60 weights. If she does fine background stippling, she will use 100 weight silk thread.

[Constance G.]

For those who think they might want to take a class with Sue, in 2014 she and her sister will be taking over the Beaver Island quilt retreats from Gwen Marston. These are week long "immersion" events, with a total of 5 weeks offered. They are held in Elk Rapids, Michigan in September.

And for the folks on the west coast, Sue will be teaching at Asilomar in February 2014.