Supplies Checklist:

You can see all of my favorite supplies on my website. For this class, you’ll need:

• Needle, I like Dritz milliners

• Thread that fits with the needle, I like DMC pearl size 8

• A pulling thimble or gripper (I LOVE the Little House Needle Gripper Silicone Thimble, which I purchase from Snuggly Monkey. Use this $5 discount code from me.)

• A pushing thimble, to protect your fingers while sewing (I LOVE the Clover Protect and Grip Thimble, which is in my Amazon Shop)

• A large solid piece of base fabric to applique on. I often use a 5x5’ piece of unbleached muslin in a large width, but you can use any size from 2x2’ to 7x7’. Any color will work. If using a print, I’d stick towards something subtle. Be careful with bedsheets, since they can be pretty hard to sew through if they have a high thread count. If desired, students can bring a few options and decide on their base in class.

• Bring a fabric to share with the class, pre-cut into 17 pieces so that we can divide it up and document our class community in our quilts.  This could be a yard of fabric, a square foot of fabric, a handkerchief, a garment, a print, hand dye, lace, ribbon, or anything that you’re willing to part with.

• Additional fabric to applique with, items with histories like clothing or domestic textiles are great. Dyed fabric also tells a potent story. Natural fibers (especially cotton) are the easiest to work with, but anything will work.

• Scissors

• Pins: straight and/or applique

• A couple safety pins

• An embroidery hoop, any size will work, but ideally 4”, 6”, and 10”

Additional Optional Supplies:

• Needle threader

• Rotary and mat cutter

• Cardboard, thin from a cereal box

• Tissue paper, repurposed from gift wrap is fine

• Aluminum foil

• A marking tool, like a hera marker for pressing a crease/mark into your fabric, an air erasable pen, or chalk

• A sewing machine and related thread and tools. I’ll demo a couple things, but it isn’t a ‘must.’ (If you’re already skillful with a machine, or prefer a machine, you’ll really like this option!)

About Heidi Parkes: Before Heidi Parkes was born in Chicago, IL in 1982, her grandmother organized a collaborative family quilt to commemorate her birth.  This set the tone for a life centered on the handmade- raised in a home where sewing, mending, cooking, canning, woodworking, photography, ceramics, painting, and plasterwork were the norm.

Now based in Milwaukee, her quilting and mending celebrate the hand, and her works tug at memories and shared experience.  Often using specific textiles, like an heirloom tablecloth, bed sheet, or cloth teabag, Heidi adds subtle meaning and material memory from the start.  Ever curious, she works with a variety of quilting techniques including visible hand piecing and knots, improvisation, patchwork, and applique. Heidi pursues her passion for teaching by lecturing and leading workshops, and shares her creative process with thousands on Instagram.  Heidi has exhibited in art and textile museums across the country and was an Artist in Residence at Milwaukee’s Lake Park through the ARTservancy with Gallery 224 in fall 2020-21.  Additionally, Heidi lives a handmade lifestyle, sewing her own clothes, fermenting, eating from pottery she made a decade ago, and practicing hand yoga, which she shares with other creatives on her YouTube channel.

See this 3-minute Studio Visit on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s3Q-XxWrcYQ