Laura Wasilowski

Laura is a textile artist, author, teacher and creator of hand dyed fabrics and threads. She has an undergraduate degree in Costuming from the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota and a Master of Art degree in Fiber from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. She is the owner of Artfabrik.

Laura combines vivid fabrics and whimsical stories to make pictorial art quilts. Each wall piece is one of her unique designs, with fused applique and machine quilting. Quilting lets her work and play at the same time.

Special Note: Laura Wasilowski is our featured speaker on Friday evening. All registrants are invited and encouraged to attend. You do not need to sign up for this special lecture.

Class: Zen Doodle Quilts
(6 hours – Friday)

Explore the mesmerizing world of Zen Doodling and design an original art quilt at the same time. You’ll soon discover how easy it is to doodle like a Zen master and learn how to convert that drawing into a pattern for your quilt. With an easy pattern transfer process for fused fabric, your drawing quickly becomes a fused art quilt. New fusing tips and tricks are presented to enhance your Zen doodle design. Drawing paper and a kit of colorful hand-dyed fabrics and threads are provided to give you the freedom to play. (No sewing machine needed.)

Materials and Supplies

• 2 yards of regular weight Wonder-Under (paper backed, #805). Please DO NOT bring Heat’n Bond or Steam-a-Seam.
• Small sharp scissors like 5″ knife blade scissors
• Paper scissors
• 2 yards of parchment paper
• Rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
• Black fine point Sharpie marker and #2 lead pencil with eraser
• Small Sketchbook (optional)
• Specialty rotary cutter blades, such as Pinking, Wavy or Scallop (optional).
• Batting, 1 piece measuring about 18″ x 18″ – Hobbs Heirloom Premium Cotton Batting recommended
• Quilt backing fabric, 1 piece measuring about 18″ x 18″
• Iron and ironing surface (share with other class members if not provided by group)
• Tweezers (optional)
• Thimble (optional)
• Small plastic bag for fabric scraps

$25 Kit Fee: includes hand out, drawing paper, and hand-dyed fabrics and threads.

Class: Free Stitched Embroidery Landscape
(6 hours – Saturday)

Densely hand stitched, these small landscape vignettes are created from your original design. They are made with cotton threads and free stitched on hand-dyed silk fabric. The vignettes are rich in color and texture and marks by the maker. You’ll learn about fabric and batting choices, how to transfer your design to the silk, the threads and needles best for stitching, and how to devise embroidery stitch combinations unique to your design. It is a slow, thoughtful, tempo of making intimate art work.