First up is Jennifer Rapacki's "Photoshop Elements for Quilters" class which is this Saturday, February 4th, 9:00 - noon.  Learn how to use the edit workspace of Photoshop Elements to manipulate photos for use in your quilt designs.  The afternoon session from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. is an "Open Session, Quilter Computer Tools".  Work on your own in Photoshop or Electric Quilt with help from Jennifer.  There's still room in this class - just call the shop to sign up.

Jill Schumacher's five day workshop begins on February 9th.  She will be teaching her method of machine quilting, whole cloth quilts, trapunto, sashiko, and quilt designs for your quilt.  There are still openings on some of the days.  Jill will also be speaking at Santa Maria Valley Quilt Guild and All-America City Quilt Guild on Wednesday, February 8th.  Her quilts are amazing - you won't want to miss attending one of these guild meetings.

Monday Mavens under the direction of teacher Susan McDermott meets every Monday evening from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.  All are welcome to this class.  Susan can assist you with any quilting project, or you can work on your own.

The Applique Club meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at 5:00 p.m.  However, in February there is only one meeting on the 23rd.  Sharon Pedersen has been teaching beginning applique, but this is a friendship group, so all levels of appliquers are welcome to join the fun.

On the last day of this month, Wednesday, February 29th, Linda McCutcheon will be teaching "Fantastic Fractures" from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.  Linda has added several more samples to her display in the shop and they are just beautiful.  We also have the book with more examples of what you can do with this technique.  This will be a fun class.  Come prepared to see a simple piece of fabric turn into a work of art.

There are three classes that Sandy Turner would like to teach.  First is Quilting 101.  This class covers drafting, traditional template free cutting, color, design, and how to choose fabric.  Second is Applique 101.  In this class Sandy teaches nine different methods of applique:  shadow, Hawaiian, mola, hundi, broderie perse, stained glass, buttonhole, celtic, and decorative stitch, all in a garden maze setting.  (Not sure if these are spelled correctly!)  The third class is Sandy's Big Flower Class.  If you've never seen any of  Sandy's big flowers, you are in for a treat.  This class is actually set for May 19th.  We have no dates for the other two, but if you are interested, please let us know.

Our Block of the Month has started, but you can jump in at any time.  The February Block #2 is ready for pickup.  I have some extra kits made so just stop in and pick one up so you can get going on this beautiful quilt.

In just a few days we will have ice cream and coffee right across the street!!!!  Yaaaaay!  Doc Bernsteins' Ice Cream and Old Town Coffees have been working feverishly every day to be ready to open this weekend.  I hope the next time you come to see me, you will walk across the street and welcome them to the neighborhood.

Have a happy, productive month.  We seem to all be working on UFO's these days.  If we can help you with any stage of your projects, don't hesitate to ask.  We're here for you!!

Happy quilting!
 
Maxine Campbell
OLD TOWN QUILT SHOP
165A W. Clark Ave.
Orcutt, CA 93455
805-938-5870
www.OldTownQuiltShopOrcutt.com