Julia E. Pfaff Quilts

Winter and Spring classes in the Richmond area can be found at:

https://www.visarts.org/classes/?fwp_classes_instructors=julia-pfaff

spring classes will be available shortly.

and

https://vmfa.museum/studio-school/art-classes/design-mixed-media-classes/

My offerings - I will travel to your guild

Japanese Tie-Dye Workshop -one or two day (for facilities with hot water/dye capacity)

This workshop teaches the fundamentals of fabric pattern dyeing using an updated version of the ancient Japanese tradition of Shibori (tie-dye). We will be using fiber reactive dyes in an immersion process. Participants will produce several samples and finished products. This high-energy workshop yields great immediate results. Completed fabrics are suitable for quilting, home decorating, and use in one-of-a-kind wearables. Lab fee: $20 includes dyes, two silk scarves, and 2 yards cotton fabric. Other scarves and fabric are available for purchase.

Low-Tech Printing and Improvisational Design 1 to 3 day workshop (This workshop requires washable table tops and access to hot water and a sink)

This hands on, fast paced workshop offers a free approach to fabric design using stencils, found objects and simple tools. This is a workshop for those who enjoy experimentation and working with the unpredictable, or those who feel they would benefit from a new mode of design. Using Procion MX dyes on cotton participants will learn several low-tech and improvisational approaches to fabric printing. Participants will move through a series of exercises to immerse themselves in the printing techniques and then move to developing a few overall printed and painted pieces of fabric. To further embrace the unpredictable, we will also be reworking our drop clothes into finished complex images. Some experience with fiber reactive dyes helpful but not necessary Per person Lab fee for dyes and fabric is dependent on length of workshop.

Low-Tech Fabric Printing with Pigment: 3-6 hour workshop

No previous printing experience needed. This is a low-tech approach to fabric printing. Using stencils, stamps, and texture plates we will print fabric with textile pigment. We will print white and colored fabrics and learn the fundamentals of fabric printing in repeats and in full compositions. If time allows, we can also work on designing stencils. Per person Lab fee for pigment and fabric is dependent on length of workshop.

Workshops -Sewing

Contemporary Mosaic (or Crazy) Piecing 1 or 2 day (could be 3hr - for experienced sewers)

This fast-moving fun class explores a spontaneous approach to a traditional quilting favorite with an emphasis on contemporary design. Participants will learn a new way to piece quilt blocks together and ways to create unique arrangements of blocks. Using rotary cutting and machine piecing they will create pillow tops or start a quilt top. A great way to use up scraps from other projects. Pieces will not be quilted during the class, but quilting options will be discussed. A supply list will be provided for participants

Contemporary Applique - 1 or 2 day

Applique means simply the applying of one fabric to another and is highly suited for patterns containing curves and pictorial images. This workshop offers a feast of different approaches to applique from a traditional hand to a contemporary raveled edge. Uses of freezer paper and machine applique will be taught. Participants can hone their skills, expand their techniques, or learn a new approach to picture making with fabric. A supply list will be provided for participants

Foundation Quilting 1 or 2 day (could be 3hr for experienced sewers)

In this fast-moving workshop, you will learn a quick contemporary construction technique guaranteed to expand your quilting abilities. Foundation quilting yields immediate finished results by combining piecing and quilting. This workshop is suitable for beginners and experienced quilters alike. Several samples suitable as small wall hangings or pillow tops will be made during class. Sewing experience is recommended. A supply list will be provided for participants

Drawing with Your Sewing Machine 1 day (could be 3hr for experienced sewers)

The simplest piece of fabric can be turned into beautiful and unique art through the addition of quilted lines. This fast-paced workshop introduces the various ways you can use your sewing machine to draw on fabric. Both free motion and conventional quilting methods will be explored. Participants will produce several samples during the class suitable for use as pillow tops. Methods of joining machine quilted blocks will also be demonstrated. A supply list will be provided for participants

Embroidery for Drawing and Pattern Making - 3 hour, 1 day, or 2 day workshop

Most of us know how to embroider, but other than red work, how else can you use it to personalize your quilt. Julia will show you a number of ways she uses embroidery in her own quilts and show step by step ways to make and enhance imagery and pattern in your quilts. Satin, stipple, cross and a unique running stitch are just some of the stitches that will be taught. A supply list will be sent to participants.

Lectures

A Life in Quilts - Quilt national 1987 to 2019

Join Julia in a walk-through memory lane, starting with the first quilt show she entered, Quilt National 1987 (and she got in!) through to her entry and acceptance to Quilt National 2019 and beyond. Julia will show and explain her inspiration and the evolution of themes and processes used to create her award-winning art quilts.

Making it Your Own

•Bedouin cross stitch embroidery

•Copper plate etching

•Japanese Shibori

•Embroidery from the West Bengal region of India

•Photoshop and digital printing

How can you use these varied techniques and still have your work seem like your own? Quilter and artist Julia E. Pfaff will outline how her work has grown to a sophisticated art form incorporating traditions from quilting, western art, and ethnic textile production. Process not only informs, but is an integral part of the development of Pfaff=s work. Revel in a journey that will take you from the temples of Greece to a fabric printing studio at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Finding Your Inner Artist

What makes an art quilt? What makes art? The all-important question we should be asking ourselves is what makes good art? Artist, quilter, and educator Julia E. Pfaff will discuss aspects of making art, making art in a quilt format, and observations of the art quilt movement. She will lend insights into her creative process and discuss how can we edit better and have the confidence to express your own ideas and use fabric in a way your mother would not have approved of.

What Place is This? Archaeologically Inspired Quilts

Julia E. Pfaff will show slides illustrating her twenty years of working as an archaeological technical artist in Greece, Egypt and Jordan. She will explain how this work has influenced quilts, how her work as an artist working in the quilt medium has grown and matured and in what new directions she hopes to move. She will discuss the techniques and processes she uses in her quilts, crazy piecing, applique, foundation quilting, fabric dyeing and print making. As an added bonus Pfaff will share with us insights into the trials and tribulations of doing commissioned art, showing slides of her recent five panel quilt done for Media General Corporate head offices in Richmond.

Do I Do My Own Sewing?

Inspired by the question,“ I do my own sewing?” this slide lecture focuses on the importance of process and materials in the quilt work of Julia E. Pfaff. The artist will outline the development of her quilts from a family tradition through her archaeologically inspired quilts to her most recent work. She will discuss the techniques she uses including fabric dyeing, painting, printmaking, applique, and crazy piecing and how she integrates her creative processes into her studio and home life.

My Art - My Craft

A slide lecture outlining the history and recent developments in the fiber work of Julia E. Pfaff. The artist will talk about the importance of personal history and process in the making of art. Pfaff will show the growth of her work from a family tradition of quilting to significant pieces of narrative art held in major corporate collections. She will explore the importance of print making techniques and painting in her most current work as well as a shift from her well-known archaeological theme to those of a more home-grown nature.

Teacher Biography: (short)

Julia E. Pfaff has been quilting her entire live and has successfully turned a family tradition into a contemporary art form. A recent recipient of a 2019-2020 Professional Artist Fellowship from the Virginian Museum of Fine art she also received an Individual Artist’s Fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Her work is currently shown as part of Quilt National 2019 and in 2006 her work was selected to be part of both AQE and Quilt Visions. She is an educator and studio artist and teaches at both the community and college level. Her quilts have been exhibited extensively and can be found in numerous national collections and publications.