Online Lectures & Classes – Modern Quilt Studio

Online Lectures

Our new two-part online lectures will be in a different format than you may have seen before. They are designed to give your guild members the flexibility to watch on their schedules while offering a personal connection with live Q&A sessions.

When your guild books a lecture, we’ll provide a link to a special YouTube page where your members can view the 40 minute lecture anytime within a one-week period prior to the live Q&A session. Members can watch it right before the live Q&A or they can enjoy the lecture any time during the week. Having seven days to watch the lecture also enables members to work out any technical issues they might have.

At the end of the seven day viewing period, Weeks or Bill will host a live Q&A session at a set, predetermined time on our YouTube channel (or on the guild’s Zoom account if they have one and prefer using it.) With YouTube live, members can use the chat function to ask questions and Weeks or Bill will be live on screen to answer. This format also allows us to give you a sneak peek of what we’re currently working on. The lecture link will expire at midnight after the live Q&A.

Each lecture is tailored to online learning with carefully lighted, recorded and edited videos. We want your members to see details of our quilts that wouldn’t be possible in a large meeting hall. The lectures and Q&A sessions are accessed with just a click of a link. The lectures are hosted on a dedicated YouTube page. The live Q&A is hosted on our YouTube channel (unless your guild has its own Zoom account it would prefer to use.)

Technical Requirements
To watch the prerecorded lectures all your members will need is an internet connection and computer, phone or tablet capable of streaming YouTube videos. The live Q&A sessions will be held on our YouTube channel (unless your guild prefers to use its own Zoom account in which case your guild will be responsible for making sure members understand how to use Zoom.)

We cannot provide I.T. support to guilds or individual students. We suggest guilds have a tech-savvy member “on call” to help students with any issues. It is each student’s responsibility to make sure they are able and know how to stream YouTube videos prior to the lecture and Q&A.

Lecture fee and size
Lectures are $450 each. We’re trying to balance making a living and allowing you maintain a welcoming culture. In order to support guilds wishing to allow guests, we ask that guilds collect and remit to Modern Quilt Studio $5 per visitor; other than this no sharing of links is permitted. Access to the lecture and Q&A is strictly limited to current guild members and paying guests.

Bookings
To book a lecture or class for your guild, please email us at sales@modernquiltstudio.com. Please include the dates you are interested in, which lecture(s) and/or class(es) you are interested in and we’ll be in touch to work out the details and get you a contract.

We currently offer two online lectures and plan to add more in the future:

Lecture 1: What Makes it Modern?

This lecture discusses how quilting, like other design disciplines such as fashion, industrial design and architecture, has evolved over time. Culture, economics, technology and society have played a part in this evolution as well, especially over the past 50 years. These changes laid the groundwork for new approaches to designing and making quilts. We’ll apply this history to new ways to think about planning and making quilts that will inspire you to expand your palette and your skill set.

Lecture 2: Rethinking Color

More than any other topic, students ask us to help them become more confident in their color choices. You’ll learn color theory, not as a dry technical approach, but as it pertains to your quilts. We’ll explain new ways to combine fabrics, how to build and edit palettes for your projects and how your color choices change the feel of your finished projects. We’ll take a deep dive into a wide variety of quilts to analyze what makes the color work successful and how those strategies will help you translate what you see in your mind into your finished quilts.

Online Classes

We’re making the most of technology to bring you a different class format that will make learning easier and more convenient. Each class has unique content but a similar structure. Students will have access to the prerecorded video class via a special link to YouTube and can watch anytime during a 7-day period prior to the class. Students may watch the class as many times as they wish during that 7-day window.

Sometimes quilters aren’t sure which fabrics are needed for a class; this allows students to better understand how to choose fabrics for their projects before the live class where they can get individual feedback on those choices. We hope this format will minimize the frustration that often happens with in-person classes of students wishing they had brought different fabrics to class after they hear the introduction from the instructor. Weeks and Bill will both teach in the prerecorded portion of the class. Either Weeks or Bill will lead the live section.

Specifics will be provided for each class but typically the prerecorded video class will teach design, fabric selection and the techniques needed to make the projects. On a specified date near the end of the 7-day period, we will host a live two-hour class on Zoom from our studio to allow students to see and discuss the project and help students with fabric selection, answer any questions about the techniques and interact with other students in the class.

Technical Requirements
To watch the prerecorded lectures all you’ll need is an internet connection and computer, phone or tablet capable of streaming YouTube videos. The live Q&A sessions will be held on Zoom. Members will need to be capable of running Zoom on a computer with webcam, or a phone or tablet. Zoom can be accessed via web browser or by installing the Zoom application on your device. If you’re new to Zoom, we suggest you practice with a friend or try a test meeting on Zoom. System requirements for Zoom can be viewed here.

Class fee and size
Classes are $800 each with a maximum of 20 students and include access to both the video and live class.
If you have more than 20 students, we charge $250 for up to 10 additional students. This charge includes a separate additional hour of live class time on Zoom.

We currently offer two online classes and plan to add more in the future:

Class 1: Curved Piecing

Our most frequently requested technique class is piecing curves. In this class, students will learn how to draft and sew arcs, quarter circles, half circles and inset full circles. Students will be able to choose from among three projects: Jewel Box, Three Cheers and Plaid Happy. Part I, the prerecorded class, allows students to view the projects, practice techniques and gauge which project is most appropriate for their time, interest and skills before deciding on a pattern or fabric. Part II is a live Zoom session in which students will receive group and individual coaching on fabric selection, help with techniques and bonus content.

Part I (prerecorded)
Curved Piecing techniques and demonstrations
Color & Fabric Selection

Part II (live)
Individual coaching on fabric selection
Help with techniques

Supply List
In addition to standard sewing supplies (sewing machine, thread, rotary cutting equipment, seam ripper etc.), you’ll need to have a pattern as well as template plastic or cardstock to make templates. Fabric requirements will depend on which of the three projects you choose and are detailed in each pattern. Please order two weeks in advance and allow 7 business days for delivery to make sure you have your pattern in time. Jewel Box is in Modern Quilts Illustrated #8, Three Cheers is in Rediscovering Your Stash, and Plaid Happy is in our Warp + Weft publication.

Class 2: Friends Old and New: Understanding Color and Fabric Selection

One of the most common questions we hear is “How do I integrate new fabrics with ones that are already in my stash?” Some quilters struggle with how to combine fabrics of different genres and illustration styles. This class is designed to help you understand how to combine fabrics of different styles and eras. The prerecorded portion of the class will teach you modern ways to use more traditional fabrics and how to shop for new fabrics that will make your older favorites look fresh. You’ll then apply this knowledge to make one of four projects based on Modern Quilt Studio patterns: Go Big, Katsura, Woodlands and Fabric Fusion. The live portion of the class will go over individual fabric selection as well as sewing and design tips.

Part I (prerecorded)

Color Theory for Quilters, Understanding Figure/Ground as it pertains to prints, Broadening Your Color Horizons, Fabric Mixing, The Power of Neutrals

Part II (live)

Helping students edit their palettes and choose the best patterns

Supply List

In addition to standard sewing supplies (sewing machine, thread, rotary cutting equipment, seam ripper etc.), you’ll need a copy of our publication Rediscovering Your Stash. You’ll learn how to choose fabrics for four specific quilts, any of which you can make as a class project. Fabric requirements will depend on which of the projects you choose and can be found in each pattern.

The four projects you can choose from are: Go Big (the pattern is in Rediscovering Your Stash), Katsura (the pattern is in Modern Quilts Illustrated #10), Woodlands (available in Fat Quarter Love, Modern Quilts Illustrated #2 or as a Digital Download.) Fabric Fusion (a stand-alone pattern available here.) Please order two weeks in advance and allow 7 business days for delivery to make sure you have your pattern in time.

AND REMEMBER…

If you can’t make it to one of our classes in person, you can take either of Weeks’ online classes. Designing the Modern Quilt is a ten-part course focusing on design concepts in Modern Quilting on Craftsy.com!

Weeks’ other class Solids Revolution is a project-based class on iquilt.com. In it you’ll learn how to use solid fabrics to make the graphic Fun House quilt

INSTRUCTORS

Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr are celebrating their 23^rd year as professional quiltmakers and co-founders of Modern Quilt Studio, a design studio in Oak Park, Illinois. Bill and Weeks are pioneers of the Modern Quilt Movement, having written the first book on Modern Quilting. Weeks made her first modern quilt in 1987 to rethink the possibilities of the American quilt as being expressive of the time in which we live. Bill began sewing at age 8 and started designing and making modern quilts in 1995.

Weeks and Bill have taught extensively throughout the US, Canada, Japan (in Japanese), England and France (in French). They have a strong social media following on Facebook, Instagram and on their YouTube channel. No strangers to online teaching, Weeks has two online classes, Designing Modern Quilts on Bluprint/Craftsy and Solids Revolution on iquilt.com while Bill teaches online design classes for Dominican University where he is Director of the Graphic Design Discipline and former Chair of the Art Department.

Modern Quilt Studio publishes Modern Quilts Illustrated, the first ever magazine exclusively dedicated to modern quilting. From the first issue in 2011 to its latest release, Modern Quilts Illustrated has enjoyed an international following. Weeks and Bill are also authors of six books including Transparency Quilts, Quilts Made Modern, The Modern Quilt Workshop, Quiltmaker’s Color Workshop, Color Harmony for Quilts and the best-selling children’s sewing book, A Kid’s Guide to Sewing.

Weeks and Bill are prolific designers of original modern fabrics. Known for their colorful yarn dyes and unique prints for Benartex’s Contempo lines, Weeks and Bill strive to inspire quilters of all ages and quilting styles. Their work has been featured widely in the international press including in O:The Oprah Magazine, TIME, The New York Times, Dwell, American Patchwork & Quilting, Quilt Jikan (Japan), France Patchwork and Country Living among others.