Craftsy Class Review: Free-Motion Quilting with Feathers, with Leah Day

Kimberly Einmo is an author, international quilting instructor and quilt judge. She has written many articles published in various magazines and four books:

Jelly Roll Quilt Magic

 Quilt A Travel Souvenir 

 Jelly Roll Quilts and More



Pre-cut Bonanza

Kimberly has also developed a signature line of innovative tools including the  Easy Star and Geese Ruler, the  EZ Hearts Cut Tool, the  EZ Pineapple Ruler, and the  EZ Jelly Roll Ruler which are manufactured and distributed by the Simplicity Creative Group.

While I highly encourage you to take a class with Kimberly at a quilt show, your quilt guild and/or your local quilt shop, I realize that may not be possible.  Thus, you may want to talk to your local quilt guild events coordinator and/or your local quilt shop, to have them schedule Kimberly to teach in your area.  I'm sure you'll be delighted with such a class.  And, you may also want to take a class with Kimberly online through Craftsy!

Today, I want to share insights with you on one of the classes that Kimberly is teaching online at Craftsy.  

While Craftsy currently offers two classes with Kimberly, today I'm going to share insights with you on her  "Chain of Stars:Mystery Quilt" class.  This is a super fun myster quilt class that would be delightful for quilters of all levels.  While I can't show you what the design looks like, as that would take the mystery out of this class, I can honestly say this is a super fun class where Kimberly will also share many tips and tricks to help with precision piecing, fabric color selection, binding and more.  

And, the actual quilt design taught in this mystery quilt class can be made using fabrics from your stash or purchased fabrics that you may wish to buy. Instructions are also provided for four sizes (e.g. crib, wallhanging, double/queen, or king). 

  

   

I felt Craftsy provided an accurate description of the class, but overlooked sharing how much fun this class really is:

What You’ll Learn

• Simple block construction using strip sets
• Time-saving techniques, such as getting perfect angles without pinning

What You’ll Make

• A mystery quilt in one of four sizes: crib, wall hanging, double/queen and king

While I can share specifics on the quilt design, which would take away the fun of a mystery quilt class, I will share some highlights from each of the lessons that you can take at your leisure  and repeat as you desire.  Each of these lessons have great HD video photography that allows you to see what Kimberly is doing, as well as hear her talk you thru the steps.  And, you also get a PDF clue with each lesson that also walks you thru the appropriate steps!  Clearly a lot of time went into the planning and making of this excellent mystery quilt class:

LESSON 1: MEET LEAH DAY - INTRODUCTION (2:25)



Kimberly shares insights about herself, as well as what to expect when doing a mystery quilt.  She loves to design quilts, especially mystery quilts.

The Mystery Quilt taught in this class is new to Craftsy (you won't find it anyplace else).

You download handouts (PDF) one clue at time, where the instructions follow along with the video lesson.  All of the written instructions also include easy to follow instructions with great visuals.

Kimberly shows multiple color combinations,value with various print sizes to help walk you through the process of fabric selection and placement. 

Students can also post photos of their fabric selection in the Craftsy classroom (forum) to get feedback from Kimberly on their fabric selection.   You can pull fabric from your stash or shop.  You'll need six fabrics for this quilt.



LESSON 2:THE BASIC FEATHER (11:41)



Before we start sewing pieces of fabric together, Kimberly shares insights on thread and needle selection.  And she walks you through the steps of sewing and pressing to create the first block.

LESSON 3:  BASIC FEATHER VARIATIONS (10:04)

Kimberly shares a great technique that doesn't require pins, yet allows you to achieve perfect points on your blocks!


LESSON 4: THE CUSTOM FEATHER (8:34)

A couple of ways to make half square triangles are covered, including Kimberly's favorite.

LESSON 5:  THE CUSTOM FEATHER VARIATIONS (18:06)

More insights are shared on cutting, pressing, trimming dog ears while you continue to work on another clue!

LESSON 6: FEATHERS IN BLOCKS (17:23)


This clue takes us through putting another block together, with oodles of useful tips shared.


  LESSON 7:  FEATHERS IN BORDERS (15:45)

Ok, you probably guessed that this clue has you stitching out blocks and there are tips shared!  So, I thought you may want to see a comment shared on the Craftsy Platform (class forum) that I feel represents what many participants feel about this class!

LESSON 8: FEATHER MEANDER (7:55)


You need to keep this a secret.  Just between us the clues in this lesson will help you finish the last block in this mystery quilt.  


LESSON 9: FEATHER MOTIFS (15:42)


Throughout the class, Kimberly talks about "The big reveal" at the end where we get to see what our mystery quilt will look like.  Trust me, it is absolutely beautiful!

In this lesson, Kimberly shows you how all the blocks come together.  Tips are shared to help you layout your blocks to ensure the fabrics appear in the proper position to create a secondary design that appears in the larger quilts. She also shares very useful tips for chain piecing your blocks to keep your layout in place while assembling the blocks, as well as tips for machine quilting your quilt.



LESSON 10: ADDING A MODERN TWIST (10:42)

More great tips are shared to help you finish your quilt.  Kimberly talks about her favorite batting, as well as how different weights of thread (50, 40, 28) look differently on your quilt.

A highlight of this lesson was learning how Kimberly does binding on the machine.  This was the best approach to binding by machine that SewCalGal has ever seen.

Can you see why SewCalGal enjoyed this mystery class with Kimberly Einmo? It is a fun way to make a beautiful quilt and there are oodles of tips and tricks shared to help us learn along the way. And, how her class on Craftsy is an amazing value?  This class is offered at a regular price of $39.99 which is an amazing value.  And, periodically, Craftsy does offer specials. But even at regular price, this class is a great value.  

I do hope you get a chance to take this Chain of Stars Mystery Quilt Class with Kimberly Einmo, as I do think you'll have fun and love what you create.  I'm also hoping to see more classes with Kimberly at Craftsy in the future.  Hopefully she'll have more Mystery Quilt classes, as well as teach a class for her beautiful Lone Star Magic Quilt:

{above} Lone Star Magic Quilt, as taught at the 2013 Road to California Conference and Quilt Show, by Kimberly Einmo.

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If you have taken a class with Kimberly at Craftsy, please leave a comment and let us know what you thought of it.  

If you are not familiar with Craftsy and are nervous about taking an online class, check out my post about free classes at Craftsy. This is a great opportunity for quilters of all levels and interest and a good way to get some hands on experience with how Craftsy structures their classes.