Interleave Inductees from Tuolumne County

Gunn House Hotel

This past Monday, I enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive out to Sonora, CA to visit the Sierra Quilt Guild of Tuolumne County.  I stayed in the historic Gunn House Hotel and was treated to some beautiful sights and exploration prior to delivering my Challenge Yourself! lecture/trunk show.

First Class Quilters & Accommodations

The next morning, I taught Intriguing Interleaves for a fun group of quilters---each of which were treated to their very own 8' table!  This is one of my favorite workshops to teach as it utilizes quilt as you go, so everyone makes great progress for a 1-day workshop.  More than half the class completed all the piecing and quilting in class, so we had fun exploring binding/finishing options in the afternoon.

Speed quilter, Kathy Emanuel, was the first to complete her "Spring Fling" Interleave construction in class (below--bottom left).  As a class, we explored different binding options to frame her fabulous Interleave quilt, starting with fabrics she brought with her--some of which could have worked.  Then we tried laying her quilt on top of my CYMK Interleave which is bound in a black & white stripe...and the entire class agreed the black and white print was perfect.  Luckily Kathy had the same print at home.  By the time I returned back to San Jose (a 2+ hour drive) I had an email in my inbox from Kathy with her beautifully bound Interleave quilt complete with hanging pockets and a label!!  In her email, Kathy shared "I can honestly say I have NEVER started and finishd a quilt project in 1 day.  Labeled with hanger corners to boot!!"

Finished Interleaves by Kathy Emanuel-Spring Fling (Left) and Kathy Steinkamp-Friendship (Right)

The next day, Kathy Steinkamp emailed me a picture of her finished Interleave quilt (pictured above, right), entitled "Friendship."  Kathy had an afternoon appointment that conflicted with the workshop, but her wonderful quilting friends nudged her to come to the workshop for the morning and even shared their fabric and supplies for her to join the Interleave fun!  Kathy managed to complete all the prep work and start on the construction in the morning and completed her Interleave quilt at home!  I am so glad she decided to join the fun as less than a week later, she emailed me a picture of her second Interleave Quilt...which is absolutely mesmerizing!!

Kathy Steinkamp's "Watermelon Wave"

Two of the quilters explored side borders using larger scale fabrics that inspired their fabric palettes.  In this first Interleave quilt, the maker brought a brilliant combo of teal, chartreuse and salmon fabrics.  In order to get a noticeable value change, I encouraged her to use the reverse side of one set of fabrics.  She was game to try and the results are just stunning!!

Bright & Happy Border Print

This maker introduced me to this fabulous fabric that features paintbrush strokes in brilliant colors.  We explored fussy folding to audition strips for a side border and to pull potential binding ideas to frame this work of art.

Brilliant Border Print

Here are some fabulouos In Progress Interleaves featuring solid color palettes.

Emerald City Inspired Greens

Gorgeous Hand Dyed Rainbow Color Study

Another fun aspect of these Interleave quilts is the illusion of new colors/fabrics that are achieved as the eye blends adjacent fabrics.

6 Fabrics Yield Exciting New Colors!

Below we see more colorful interactions as color bands overlap and intertwine...

New Colors Emerge

And here a pretty spring palette creates a fun range of purple tones...

Spring Pastel Palette

Here are some watercolor Interleave quilts achieved through the use of Batik fabrics.

Beautiful Batiks

Subtle Beauty that Glows

What a beautiful range of Interleave quilts...and I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg from this talented guild!!  Thanks for a fun 2 day visit, and I look forward to seeing what other fabulous variations they create!!