Program: "My Journey in Quilting"

Note Time Change

The lecture will include how she started her journey in quilting not realizing that her ethnicity (Indian) would have such a huge influence on her - and even surprises her to this day when she designs and "colors" her quilts. She will also talk about her process of designing - from paper to fabric and her teaching methods - giving her students confidence in their color choices, how to speed up the prep process and lastly why they should have fun sewing quilts! Irene will be in Australia so her presentation will be via Zoom, projected on a screen in the meeting room.

Speaker: Irene Blanck

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have been quilting for the last 30 years but only started designing in 2007. I have done all sorts of quilts but what I love best is needle turn appliqué. I enjoy teaching classes in all aspects of needle turn appliqué. I try and make my classes fun and stress-free and like to think of them as "sit and sew" sessions - or "mini quilt-ins" - where we have a fun and relaxing day, chatting to friends as well as learning new techniques or perfecting old ones. In my classes I teach all the shortcuts which I've learnt over the years - mostly from making mistakes and dong things over and over again.

I have been extremely fortunate to teach in Australia, the US and Europe. Quiltmania published a book of my quilts in 2015 titled Focus on Appliqué.

I mostly teach needle-turn appliqué, reverse appliqué, the use of glue - NO pins, and preparing and making hexagons. I encourage quilters to prepare a complete block so that it is portable and can be completed anywhere, any time.

One of the main things I found when teaching is that people can be very hesitant about choosing fabric. I enjoy this aspect of my designing and try and instill confidence in my students about choosing color and particularly NOT stressing out with this process.