Workshoppin' with Jacquie Gering

This past weekend, I went to my first quilting lecture and workshop. For months, the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild has been building up to this weekend, when we finally welcomed the wonderful Jacquie Gering to the Lou.

On Friday, she gave a lecture entitled "Quilting Modern: Honoring Tradition." She talked all about her method, where she gets her inspiration, and how to take traditional ideas and put a modern spin on them.

And she showed off a ton of her fabulous quilts.

Really, I wanted to sneak out of there with all of them.

Afterward, she was kind enough to stick around to chat, sign copies of her book, and let us manhandle her beautiful quilts.

On Saturday, she hosted a workshop on modern crazy piecing. I was really excited about this one because I really don't do any improv work when I sew, and I knew it would be a good chance to learn a new technique and push me out of my comfort zone.

I definitely wasn't the only one, as lots of people in the group cringed as Jacquie starting slicing through fabric without measuring. But once I got my rotary cutter in my hand, it was actually a really freeing experience and so much fun. Slice, slice, rearrange!

I worked on a monochromatic piece using a range of teals (big surprise coming from me, I know). I gathered up this huge stack a few weeks ago so I'd have plenty of inspiration. I'm planning on using these fabrics for my STLMQG Ohio Star challenge quilt, but this weekend, they all went to the workshop with me. I think my plan will be to use some of my crazy piecing for the back of the Ohio Star quilt.

After the initial "lesson," Jacquie canvassed the room offering great advice and lots of help the entire time. And she was so very, very genuinely nice. She even helped me carry my ironing board to my car after the workshop. Ha!

It was a great weekend and a wonderful first workshop experience. I can't wait for the next one! Now, I gotta get back to my piecing.