Saturday 17 July 2021: Online Workshop (Making Faces!)

Melissa Averinos - Saturday 17 July 2021 - 3.00pm to 7.00pm (BST)

Online Interactive Workshop: Making Faces!

We're absolutely thrilled to welcome a NEW guest tutor to the CraftyMonkies family - the absolutely wonderful Melissa Averinos will be joining us all the way from the USA to host this workshop entitled Making Faces!

Melissa is an artist and quilter. She is the maker of My Brother’s Jeans  (Best In Show at QuiltCon 2016) and Face #1 (Judge’s Choice QuiltCon 2015) and has designed fabric for Free Spirit, Andover, Hoffman and Wilmington Prints. Melissa is the author of several craft books, her most recent on the face collage technique you’ll learn in this class (Making Faces In Fabric, C&T Publishing/Stash Books, 2018). We extend a warm welcome to Melissa and will let her tell you all about her inaugural workshop with us - take it away, Melissa!...

IMPORTANT:

With Tickets selling fast for this date, Melissa has kindly agreed to REPEAT this workshop on Sunday 18 July 2021 (3.00-7.00pm, BST). Info & Tickets for this extra date will published during the afternoon of Friday 11 June!...

Introduction by Melissa

I can’t wait to hang out with you all! Do you have any cats? I love cats!...

I’m a quilter and I love to sew, but I think of myself primarily as a painter. I’ve been actively making work since my early teens and had always focused on faces. As I progressed in my quilting life, it was only natural that I get into making faces in fabric. Join me - I guarantee, you can totally do it!

My teaching approach is lighthearted, fun and inclusive. I create a nurturing environment for people to let go of their preconceived ideas about whether they are artists or not, to create with a childlike joy and release any need to do things ‘perfectly’. Also I will probably ask you to show your cats in our Zoom!...

Join me in this fun and liberating class and we’ll make some great faces - together!

What You Will Learn in this Online Interactive Workshop:-

You will be thrilled with finally learning how to draw a decent face! That’s right, we start with drawing, but don’t panic - I make it EASY! You can totally do it, you probably have just never learned the simple things you need to get right. In our class you will learn this first thing! Here’s how it will go down:-

• First up, a drawing lesson with a simple formula on the proportions of the face
• Next, an EASY-to-understand lesson on drawing facial features!

Then we move on to play time with fabric, where I cover:

• Fabric selection
• Adhesive options
• Laying out the “markers of the face” so you get the proportions right (now that you know them from the drawing lesson!)
• Variations of easy shapes to create facial features and hair
• Troubleshooting
• The benefits of working in multiples

Then I will talk about next steps for you to take with your work after class. (There is no sewing in this class because our time together is much better spent helping you get the faces down!). I will cover:-

• Benefits and drawbacks of different stabilizers
• Basic tips for how to stitch your collage, including thread color choice
• Examples/inspiration of different ways/styles of stitching a collage and how they change the look of the piece
• Show and tell of examples of face collages to inspire you and show a range of takes on the technique
• Examples and suggestions for ways to use your collage panel after it’s stitched

Skill Level for this Online Interactive Workshop:

Beginner to Experienced quilters who are interested in exploring an art quilting technique presented in a modern way

Beginner to Experienced art quilters looking to take on faces!

Fabric requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

• Background and Collage fabrics can be in any colors you like - they do not need to be realistic, portrait-type colors!
• they should be solids and/or very small scale prints
• if they are prints, they should be low contrast, subtle tonal prints, or ‘blender’ fabrics*
• the idea here is that we don‘t want to be distracted by large, busy or contrasting prints
• if wrinkly fabric is going to annoy you, press in advance or have your iron and pressing surface accessible during class

BACKGROUND Fabric:

• You will need 4 x Fat-Quarters of quilting cotton
• This is the fabric we will collage the faces onto (so don’t bring your Precious for this!)
• Bring 2 light colours: one medium and one dark!

COLLAGE Fabrics:

• Assorted scraps in a range of sizes (you might use a one-inch piece on an eye or a an 8”x2” piece on the hair)
• As above, these should be low-contrast, small scale prints or solids
• Include lights, mediums and darks
• Include white and black
• If you aren’t a scrap saver, don’t worry! Just bring some Fat-Quarters that you don't mind cutting into!

* If this is stressing you out and you don’t understand what I mean, please definitely DO NOT FRET over it! Just bring a good variety of solids and all will be well!

Other Supplies/Equipment requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

• Plain White printer paper - at least 20 sheets (yes: printer paper, not a notebook or a sketchbook - trust me!)
• Regular pencil
• Fabric Scissors
• Small Scissors (like embroidery scissors) if you have them
• Elmer’s Washable glue stick (or similar)
• Optional: Tweezers

Pattern Information relevant to this Online Interactive Workshop:-

No patterns are needed for this workshop!

Sizing Guide relevant to this Online Interactive Workshop:-

No sizing guide is needed!

Additional Information relevant to this Online Interactive Workshop:-

Here is a pep talk from me to you!:-

I know faces can be intimidating, but believe me when I say "YOU CAN TOTALLY DO THIS!!!" I show you super simple tricks that anyone can use to make a face in fabric!

I love Raw-Edge Appliqué because it’s fast (compared to piecing) and it’s so forgiving! Don’t like what you did? Add some fabric on top. Like I always say about painting, if you don’t like it you can just put more over it and then you have the extra benefit of all that excellent texture! This class is about making faces the way YOU make faces, which you will discover as you go! I’ll teach you the basic framework and then I will encourage you to let go of expectations and just PLAY (and show me your wonderful cats!)...

​Tickets for this Online Interactive Workshop (via the Zoom platform) will be limited & allocated on a first-come/first-served basis! If applicable, any free pattern, or other information, relevant to this course will be forwarded to you after booking and approximately 5 days before the course date. The ticket price of £40.00 is based on ONE person attending this crafting class.

This CraftyMonkies Online Interactive Workshop is being broadcast from the United Kingdom and the class time given is based on British Summer Time (BST). We advise you check via Google Search (or similar) to see corresponding start-time in YOUR location!

Ordering MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT Online For Any Class/Workshop! In light of current uncertainties regarding potential lockdowns in some/all parts of the UK due to Covid-19, please ensure you book your place & order any materials/equipment online in plenty of time ahead of any course dates.

​IMPORTANT!

This class is a live Zoom Workshop ONLY! We are NOT able to offer a recorded Pay-On-Demand video for sale after this event.