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By Patricia Belyea
LA CONNER WA Earlier this month, seven delightful quilters gathered in historic La Conner to learn about piecing curves. What did they all had in common? A desire to learn something new, an interest in Japanese textiles, and a love of quilting.
After a remarkable Welcome Dinner, the following four days were filled with lots of curvaceous fun. For the first two days, everyone worked on their versions of the Quadrant Quilt, the Workshop sample (see left). This project teaches the basics of designing and piecing curves that are complex and perfectly flat.
For the last two days, participants designed and sewed quilt tops with lots of curves! The challenge was to create a total composition with curves. This prepared the students to return to their sewing rooms and studios with confidence to add curves to any future quilt project.
Here are photos of the quilters and their projects:
All the participants choose to stay at La Conner Country Inn—where the conference room was transformed into the Okan Arts Workroom and a nearby meeting room became a Japanese textile pop-up shop. With 24-hour accessibility to the Workroom, the buzz of activity resumed every night after our early group dinners!
Were you counting? The seventh participant asked not to be photographed. So here's a block from her Quadrant Quilt project:
It was another wonderful Workshop!
Here are some raves from the participants: “My favorite thing about the Workshop was the discovery that, yes, I can draw and create my own quilt design.” Sarah A of Brookfield IL
“I didn't know if I would be able to ‘master’ curves in just four days, but Patricia did an excellent job of making a higher-order skill simple and clear.” Donna P of Eagarville IL
“I left exhilarated, but exhausted, having accomplished exactly what I wanted.” Cheryl B of Kansas City MO
“In a climate of creativity, we were pushed to new heights!” Martha B of Naperville IL
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ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan.
FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts
