Schedule of Upcoming Classes & Events
I’m thrilled to be back out on the road teaching IN-PERSON classes! I’m now booking classes and trunk shows through 2024.
To check if I’ll be at a guild or show near you, CLICK HERE for a listing of scheduled classes.
To learn more about the classes I’m currently teaching and the new classes planned for 2023 and beyond, keep reading!
Description of Classes
I’m delighted to announce a new line-up of classes and lectures for 2022. In-person and online classes are available to guilds. Individual quiltmakers can register for my new online course “Spring Bling” through Creative Spark (C&T Publishing’s new online teaching platform).
Take a peek at the 3-minute video all about my classes & events available in 2022, then check out the listing below. (Quick note: I’ve extended my Color Play class from a half-day to a full-day class.
I look forward to seeing you soon!
Trunk Shows/Lectures
Gems & Joy
In-person & Zoom presentations available for guilds and other organizations.
My “Gems & Joy” slide lecture and trunk show chronicle my 25-year adventure in learning how to create the biggest diamonds in the world using fabric.
During my presentation, I’ll talk about the techniques to create and assemble the hundreds of pieces in each diamond, materials I use to create the wash of color and light across a gem’s surface, and the quilting techniques that enhance a gem’s facets. And, as so often happens with any artist’s decades-long journey, I’ll share what I’ve learned about the importance of choosing joy and saying “no” to fear as I made the leap from the Corporate Life to the Creative Life.
Length of Presentation: 60 minutes
Skill Level: All
Lecture Fee: $450 ($400 when a class is also scheduled)
National Treasures Trunk Show
In-person & Zoom presentations available for guilds and other organizations after July 2022.
My “Smithsonian Series” slide lecture and trunk show introduce you to the artwork inspired by the most beautiful gems in the world. Learn about the gems and their amazing stories, including the amazing people who were caught up in their orbits.
Length of Presentation: 60 minutes
Skill Level: All
Lecture Fee: $450 ($400 when a class is also scheduled)
Playing With Pixels
In-person & Zoom presentations available for guilds and other organizations.
When I’m searching for inspiration for a new piece or perhaps the seed of a new series, I love to play with images of gemstones in photo-editing apps like Photoscape.
These apps allow you to manipulate images in a myriad of ways, transforming them into intriguing sources of inspiration for new work.
Length of Presentation: 60 minutes
Skill Level: All
Lecture Fee: $250 ($200 when a class is also scheduled)
Classes
Color Play: Beyond Color Theory (Full-Day)
This class is best taught in person.
Over the course of the last 25 years, I’ve learned a few things about how to make quilts sparkle and glow. Join me and learn how to use value and saturation contrast bring sparkle and drama to your work, regardless of your inspiration.
This is a class filled with time to experiment and build on lessons learned. By the end of class, students will have enough blocks to create a quilt top in the style of the legendary art instructor Josef Albers series Homage to the Square.
Length of Workshop: 6 hours
Skill Level: All
Workshop Fee: $750
Maximum Students: 25
Bite-Size Gems (Full-Day)
In-person & Zoom presentations available for guilds and other organizations.
In this fast-paced workshop, participants will create their own singularly beautiful work of faceted light using the same single-foundation piecing techniques I use to create my own “diamond quilts”.
Participants will choose from one of several pre-selected abstract gem designs based on their skill level. They will then learn how to chart the design onto freezer paper; code each piece for color, location, and adjacency; position template pieces onto fabric to achieve the desired light effects; and ultimately create their own unique study in faceted color. Participants will leave the class with a small top that can later be hand- or machine-quilted at home.
Length of Workshop: 5-6 hours
Skill Level: Confident Beginner
Workshop Fee: $750
Maximum Students: 25
Dames & Diamonds (Full-Day)
In-person & Zoom presentations available for guilds and other organizations.
I’m delighted to introduce students to the technique I use to create all my gem patterns: traditional piecing using freezer paper as a template. I’ve designed three patterns inspired by some of the world’s most beautiful gems, all of which are made available to class participants. Patterns are available as PDF downloads.
Participants will choose one of the fully-charted gem patterns to make during class. During class, we’ll not only create a quilt block of the patterns, but I’ll share all kinds of gossip about the gems and their outrageous, eccentric, and intriguing owners.
Length of Workshop: 5-6 hours
Skill Level: Confident Beginner
Workshop Fee: $750
Maximum Students: 25
Schedule of Classes & Events
Click on the name of the class for a full description.
September 25 & 26, 2023
Prairie Star Quilt Guild (St. Charles, IL)
IN-PERSON
Gems & Joy Trunk Show — Monday, Sept. 25, 7:00 PM Central
National Treasures Trunk Show — Tuesday, Sept. 26; 9:30 AM Central
Bite-Size Gem Class — Monday, Sept. 25, 9 AM – 4 PM Central
October 10 – 14, 2023
“Sew Many Stars” — Utah Quilt Guild Quilt Fest 2023 (Layton, Utah)
IN-PERSON
Class #1 — Color Play: Beyond Color Theory — Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023
Class #2 — Bite-Size Gems Class — Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023
Gems & Joy Trunk Show — Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023 (Noon)
Class #3 — Improv Gems — Friday, Oct. 13, 2023
Class #4 — Dames & Diamonds Class — Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023
For more information, CLICK HERE.
October 24 & 25, 2023
Bits ‘N’ Pieces Quilt Guild (Ballwin, Missouri)
IN-PERSON
Gems & Joy Trunk Show — October 24, 7 PM Central
Dames & Diamonds Class — October 25, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM Central
Contact: Candyce Grisham; [email protected]
March 12 & 13, 2024
Folsom Quilt & Fiber Guild (Folsom, California)
IN-PERSON
Gems & Joy Trunk Show — March 12, 7 PM Pacific
Bite-Size Gems Class — March 13, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pacific
Contact: Laura Werner; [email protected]
April 14 – 19, 2024
Empty Spools Seminars — Treasure Hunting: A 5-Day Adventure in Design with MJ Kinman
IN-PERSON
I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been invited to return to Asilomar Conference Center to teach a week-long class for Empty Spools Seminars. This immersive class is for anyone who has an idea of a quilt in mind in which every piece is a different shape, size, or color. Piecing with freezer paper is a powerful technique that quiltmakers of all skill levels can master. While my inspiration is gemstones, yours might be landscapes, florals, even abstracts. No matter the subject matter, I’ll help you bring your design to life.
Along the way, we’ll talk extensively about how to make your designs sparkle and glow, as well as how to add translucency to your quilt, all through the specific use of value contrast and saturation contrast. We’ll also talk about how fabric selection impacts the “clarity” of your design. And finally, I’ll introduce you to some of the most beautiful and well-known gems in the world and the outrageous, eccentric people who crossed paths with them.
Join me for a marvelous week of joyful creativity at the beach!
More information will be available in early May 2023.
June 21 – 29, 2024
Quilting Cruise with MJ Kinman (Adventures by Michelle)
IN-PERSON
Join me on my very first QUILTING CRUISE! We’ll spend this 8-night/9-day Royal Caribbean cruise line adventure visiting beautiful spots in the Caribbean like St. Croix, St. Thomas, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Coco Cay. While at sea, I’ll show you how to make 1 of 2 special quilts I designed just for this trip: “Caribbean Holiday” and “Caribbean Roses”. Both projects are twin-size quilts featuring large and small gemstone blocks.
The full kit is included in the fee, and I’ll bring a variety of backgrounds and embellishments for you to choose from to customize your quilt. Plus you’ll have lots of downtime for free sewing to your hearts content!
Michelle and I sat down to chat about our destinations, the projects, and more. Click the image below to listen in.
Itinerary:
- 21 June 2024: Depart Port Canaveral, Florida at 4pm – Make & Take Sponsored by our Janome Provider
- 22 June 2024: Quilting and Cruising Day at Sea – Welcome Aboard Party – Evening Open Sewing
- 23 June 2024: Quilting and Cruising Day at Sea – Evening Open Sewing
- 24 June 2024: Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas from 8am to 6pm – Evening Open Sewing
- 25 June 2024: St Croix, USVI from 8am to 8pm – Evening Open Sewing
- 26 June 2024: San Juan, Puerto Rico from 7am to 4pm – Evening Open Sewing
- 27 June 2024: Quilting and Cruising Day at Sea – Evening Open Sewing
- 28 June 2024: Morning Open Sewing – Coco Cay from 9am to 5pm – Farewell Party
- 29 June 2024: Arrive Port Canaveral, Florida at 7am
Registration is now open! Click below to download the flyer with more information or CLICK HERE to visit the Adventures by Michelle website.
