One of the really fun things at the show was Make It University put on by Cloth Paper Scissors and Quilting Arts magazines. Throughout each day there was a series of mini one hour classes managed by Pokey Bolton and her able assistant Barbara featuring outstanding teachers. Some were technique oriented and some project oriented but all were very creative and fun. The classroom was located right in the midst of the vendors section and the participants were chosen by lottery 15 minutes before the class started. Somehow, I managed to get into 5 of them and they all involved painting.
The first class was with Pokey Bolton. She showed us a canvas memory book she had made and we were able to get started on the background of pages for a book of our own. She exposed us to various techniques on each page using paint washes, stenciling, resist using a doily and we have a few blank pages to try things on our own. Then we can collage on top of the backgrounds for our memory keepsake.
The next class was a puffy heart plaque. We used paint, text papers, lace paper for texture, stamps, gel pens, adhesive backed canvas, trims and batting. This class was taught by Belinda Spiwak, a sixth grade teacher in real life. She was very fun, lots of energy and you could tell she was good with her sixth graders.
With Melanie Testa we learned to use freezer paper as a resist. We cut the paper into various shapes and ironed it on fabric. Then we daubed paints onto the fabric. When we pulled the freezer paper off, we were left with interesting patterns on the painted fabric that we can use later in an art project. Sorry, no decent photos.
After that was another class with Belinda Spiwak. This time it was making ATC’s (artist trading cards) that are the size of baseball cards. These were called bristle ATC’s because they feature those little bristle things you use to clean between you teeth – no kidding! First we painted the card front and back, added words and dyed cheese cloth, painted and stamped the little pocket part, painted the bristles, and added stamped imaged. The final touches were added with gel pens. These are meant to be traded so after we signed them, I traded with my firend Colleen.
And finally, the last class was with Judy Coates Perez. This workshop featured sewing on metal. 
Our kit included grunge board which we painted, a “Judy original” painting transfered to canvas which we sewed to the thin aluminum with embroidery floss, a metal embossing tool and fancy scissors to sculpt and cut the metal, and a piece of trim to hang the finished project with. The sewing in this class was done by hand with a sturdy embroidery needle but it is also possible to sew the metals with a sewing machine. They are thin enough that it won’t ruin the needle.
It was great to be able to try new techniques and ideas that I might not have tried by myself at home. Everything you need is supplied and the cleanup is minimal. And they are all great fun.
Awhile ago I ordered some RIT dyes afer reading Judy Coates Perez’s article in Quilting Arts magazine (Dec/Jan 2009 issue, page 60). I’ve wanted to try dyeing for some time but been wary of the toxic nature of the fiber reactive dyes. RIT dyes are non-toxic and seem safer so I decided to give it a go. All I needed to proceed was some PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric. While I was in Chicago, I bought some from the ProChem people – 5 glorious yards. 
I promptly tore it into fat quarters and mixed up 3 different colors: Terra cotta, periwinkle, and dark olive.
In each bath, I successively dyed three pieces of fabric, yielding a lighter shade each time. With the dark olive however, I kept adding more of the green and black hoping to aim to a more green shade. And I dyed more than 3 pieces.
