Wonderful Teachers ~ Great Techniques

We loved the quilts and vendors at the show last week, but there is so much more to Quilt Week in Paducah. Since we live on the second floor of an old building downtown, we really enjoy exploring Lower Town. The architecture is captivating and it’s such an artsy area.

The Art Guild of Paducah’s shop was just a few doors down from where we stay. Last year I shared a bit about the bowls available there and their maker who did a wonderful demonstration of how she makes them. This year we met Patience and were fascinated by her felted animal demonstration. Here she is adding eyes to a mouse.

I was enthralled by her self portrait:

She had so many wonderful critters available at the beginning of the week, but by Friday, when I remembered I wanted a photo, these were the only ones waiting to be adopted.

Cathy purchased my favorite chipmunk pincushion, and was kind enough to send me a pic:

If you think you might want to do a bit of wool felting, Patience’s daughter has a site where we can learn to felt critters of our very own. Click here to visit Sarafina Fiber Art. I think I may need to watch some of her videos, order a few supplies and give animal felting a try.

And speaking of wool… we found a vendor booth in the pink Finkel Building with beautiful hand dyed wool available.

Darlene dyes all the wool herself and designs her own patterns.

We had a delightful conversation. Her business is named One Wing Wool and she’s in the process of opening a shop in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

Until her shop is open you can find all of her wonderful products at: http://www.onewingwool.com/ (stay tuned for more on the Finkel Building next week).

No matter where the Lord leads me, I’m always open to learning new things; and when at shows I love signing up for lectures and workshops. Last year my friend Susan told me about a new technique called Accordion Sewn HSTs. She said it was a way to stitch half square triangles so that every square was different – no “twin blocks” like we get when sewing two squares together along both side of the diagonal. I thought it was brilliant, so when I heard that the originator of this technique was going to be teaching in Paducah, I couldn’t wait to sign up.

The morning of the class I decided to walk down to Etcetera for a glass of bubble tea.

While sipping happily I got to talking to the woman at the next table and found it was no other than Beth Helfter ~ the teacher of the workshop I was taking that night. We really connected and I couldn’t wait for her Flying Frankies class.

Beth’s brain works in strange and mysterious ways and we were all amazed at how she came up with this fun technique. Here Cathy and I are laughing with the teacher. I’m holding an accordian strip made in class (it was made by the quilter sitting near us and I grabbed it with permission for the photo ~ that’s why we’re laughing).

Once the strip is made the triangles on the ends need to be stitched together, making a tube. This accordion tube made a lovely crown for April who sat across from us and gave us the queen’s wave 🤣.

Next the triangles are cut apart, trimmed (with a great new ruler) and pressed. Click here to learn more about Beth and her products.

A few days later I took a class with another talented teacher, and a dear friend, Heidi Proffetty. You may remember how Cathy and I met her last year (click here to read about it at the end of my post about classes from last year’s show). This year I HAD to take a class with her and she did not disappoint. Her attention to detail was wonderful, her kits were amazing,

and many of us got our poinsettia quilt top done in the 3 hour class (Heidi is second from the left). Click here to visit Heidi’s site.

It was one of the best classes ever, and she was available to join us for lunch afterwards at Flamingo Row. What a blessing!

I also met some very interesting vendors, but their stories will have to wait until next week’s post. I marvel at all the wonderful people I meet, and fun things I get to do each year in Paducah. Praising the Lord for His many blessings.

And, speaking of taking quilting classes…

I’ve scheduled a few of my own classes at a lovely little shop in my hometown of Watertown, WI. I hope you’ll want to join me!

Upcoming Classes

Railroad Crossing

Do you have a lovely larger print fabric that you can’t bear to cut into small pieces? If so, this lap quilt may be the perfect project for you. We’ll begin by cutting a large print fabric into large squares, and then framing them with a colorful sashing that appears to weave over and under itself. This is a fun strip-pieced quilt, with a 3D element, that allows a beautiful fabric to shine. Quilt finishes approximately 50″ x 60″

When: Monday, June 12, 2023 from 9am – 1pm

Cost: $25 ~ Pay in class, but you must sign up with an email to or text to (262)719-5018 to secure your spot.

Clever Curves

Get the look of curved piecing without piecing any curves! Appliquéd bias strips make it easy, and add a bit of pizzazz! This delightful wall quilt finishes 30″ x 38″

When: Monday, June 26, 2023 from 9am – 1pm

Cost: $25 ~ Pay in class, but you must sign up with an email to or text to (262)719-5018 to secure your spot.

Supply lists will be sent at time of sign up.

Stitching Together

In this Open Lab style class quilters are welcome to bring whatever project they want to work on.

Do you have a pattern you’re hesitant to start on your own? A project you’ve started and have hit a roadblock? A UFO (unfinished object ~ or ultimately fabulous opportunity) that you would have more fun finishing with friends to encourage you? Or a project in your mind that you want to make, but aren’t sure where to start?

If so, join in and we’ll stitch together! Bring your project and all necessary supplies. I’ll provide irons and ironing boards, a large cutting table and mat, and loads of encouragement. I’ve been teaching open lab classes for years, and creative problem solving is one of my favorite things to do. In this class I’ll also demonstrate my favorite way to apply a “no-end” binding.

When: Monday, July 10, 2023 from 12:30-3:30

Cost: $15 ~ Pay in class, but you must sign up with an email to or text to (262)719-5018 to secure your spot.

For location and more information please click here to visit my Stitching Together page.