This class is about making design decisions.  Students will be given two unstitched designs (A Stained-Glass Sunflower and A Time for All Seasons) without instructions for completing those designs.  As a class we will look at each of those designs and discuss choosing colors, stitches and thread weights for each design.  We’ll also explore the magical world of embellishments.  Other topics include choosing the background fabrics (do’s and don’ts), non-traditional design sources, and tools that can help in making these decisions.  The course material is applicable to making changes to purchased designs, creating designs from scratch, and using non-traditional sources for finding designs.  Student participation is a must in this interactive class, so please come with your ideas, questions, and tips for what has worked for you. Design by Pat Kamperschroer.​

This lovely spring bouquet will brighten up any location and draw lots of oohs and aahs.  The roses, daisies, violets and more will keep spring in your home all year round. Design by Delma Moore, Blackberry Lane.​

See WA-4 (Wednesday AM)

See MA-4 (Monday AM)​

See WA-6 (Wednesday AM)​

The mane of the male lion is a glorious sight to behold. But nothing says a lady can’t grow her hair out if she wants to. Our Serengeti Sunflower is a female lion with beautiful golden curls. Her colorful robes are accented by gold beadwork, Dandy-LION tats, a lacy blouse and designer toenails. She wears a Dandy-LION on a chain around her neck and a desert rose decorates her tail. At her side is Sunny, a sunflower-colored lion cub who also wears a Dandy-LION in her hair. Design by Rosalie Wakefield, Millefiori.

Erin Ferre’s suggestions inspired this Millefiori design by Rosalie Wakefield. BDEIG’s Flower of the Year, the Sunflower, blooms in each of the "Seasons in the Sun" with different petal and leaf treatments featured. Each leaf is different, and each flower has different stitches. In addition, each sunflower has a different center. Vee Wedow’s spring sunflower bouquet is stitched with Iris rather than Glory and Rosalie shares her original drizzlebirds.  You’ll also see bunnies, a puppy and a kitty frolicking through the Four Seasons. Design by Rosalie Wakefield, Millefiori.

Delight in the four seasons Florida style.  Enjoy spring orchids and orange blossoms, summer exotic trumpet flowers and lilies, fall chrysanthemums and maple leaves, winter strawberries, pine cones, holly berries, and snow flake decorations. Design by Deborah Goff.

How many designs do you have completely stitching and just waiting to be framed? Bring one of them to this class and you will go home with a lovely finished and framed piece of art, plus the knowledge to frame all the rest of your unframed pieces. The whole process of framing a design is not very difficult when you take it step by step, and the price is right! In this hands-on class you will detail your stitched design for framing, stretch it over a foam board covered with thin batting, stitch it tightly onto the foam board, and finally put it into its frame. Join me in this class and make it happen!

See ThA-3 (Thursday AM)

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This is a simple design that will give the stitcher lots of practice on the detached buttonhole stitch. Intermediate stitchers are welcome. The pace will be good for someone who is learning this stitch. Design by Shelly Ah Leong.

As we have said before, it is hard to surpass the artistry of Blackberry Lane’s designs, and once again this has proven true.  Delma Moore’s lovely Rambling Roses is a combination of beauty, new ideas, and delightful stitching. While the entire design is lovely, the roses on this design are especially beautiful and unusual in three ways: they are stitched in Cire for a silky look, they are designed with an offset center and a unique petal placement, and Delma uses a lovely combination of two different shaded flosses for each rose to give a unique flow of colors. And of course, the design is printed on Delma’s special Australian-made fabric, which is soft, yet perfect for our BE stitches. The three team teachers, Peggy, Pat, and Sandy, who together have over 40 years of Brazilian embroidery experience will demonstrate tips and techniques for making lovely bullions, cast-ons, and French knots.  Peggy says this is one of the most enjoyable pieces she has ever stitched.  Come join us and treat yourself to this lovely Blackberry Lane piece.  Design by Delma Moore, Blackberry Lane. 

I love the look of all the seasons together in a single piece. This will bring joy for each season as you make each one in a matching motif with different stitches in each of the season.  A mix of stitches creates a change as in seasons of nature and life.  Fun for any stitcher in any "season," novice to advanced. See you in the Spring! Design by Diana Roby. 

The original title of this design was "Fun With Shisha and Beads", and that’s exactly what we will do in class!  We’ll learn a fun way to attach shisha mirrors to fabric using beads, plus incorporate stitches to make the "arms" of this beautiful snowflake.  No doodle cloth will be provided in class.  This pattern will be available printed on white, purple, or turquoise trigger cloth. Design by Debbie Kelley, DK Designs.

Make this charming scissor fob which is a combination of Brazilian Embroidery and beading on black ultra suede. You will learn beading techniques and incorporate BE in with the beads. Design by Teresa Harpster.

See MP-4 (Monday PM)

There was a time when each young lady had a"“hope chest" filled with linens she had hand embroidered for her home when she got married.  Our hope chest contains a blanket and two pillows embroidered and ready for our home.  This is also a time when you might want to include a small pin or charm that has some meaning within your family to make this chest your very own. Design by JDR Brazilian Embroidery.

See MP-7 (Monday PM)

This is an optional second session to play with paint.  Continue working on your original project, start a new one, or just try a variety to techniques. 

Unlike Tamari these balls are stitched separately from the ball itself and added on by tucking the fabric into pre-sliced slots.  You will have a choice of from 16 basic flowers to stitch four for the "windows" and the fabric of your choice for the top and bottom. Design by Rosalie Wakefield, Millefiori.

This small winter landscape merges 3 techniques: Shibori silk, beading and Brazilian embroidery. Some little hares are running on the snow. Design by Nicole Gelinas.

See MA-6 (Monday AM)

See MA-5 (Monday AM)

See WA-3 (Wednesday AM)

Come spend a couple hours with me down by the sea shore. We will gather some kitten paws, jingles, augers and coquina shells.Stitch this lovely back ground scallop shell.  Add a few little shells collected on the gulf coast of Florida and you will have a unique paperweight. I will provide several different Batique fabrics for you to choose from or you can bring a fabric of your choice. Shells will be provided by the little ole lady that collected them. No creatures were harmed for this project. Ewwww! Design by Carol Dundas.

Here is a chance to learn a little more about making Teneriffe lace, some ways to join motifs, and a variety of designs that can be created.  You might try different threads as well.   This is a continuation class, you must also sign up for Teneriffe Lace Medallion as well unless you have already learned the basics before. Design by Loretta Holzberger.

Let’s make a 3 inch ornament! Using the student’s pre-stitched ornament front, students will create a finished Christmas ornament in this class. If the student doesn’t have a completed ornament front, the student can complete all but the last 2 steps of creating the ornament and can finish it later. In this class, students will learn how to make braid using an electric mixer! Additional kits and supplies will be available for purchase. A student can choose to bring 2 3-inch round pieces of cardboard and felt/batting instead of using the Finishing Form, if they want.

See TA-3 (Tuesday AM)

Quoting Rosalie Wakefield, "When you name a design ‘South of the Border’, your color choices are endless, and no choices are ‘wrong’. You can throw your floss into the air and when it lands, pull out the colors together that you like. Doesn’t that sound like fun?" There are several flower techniques and a different leaf to go with each. The lace-like chiffon lilies are stitched with a variation of "Archie drizzle" technique with cast-on pistol stitch for stamens. The fan flower is made with a bullion-woven buttonhole stitch, its colors quietly echoed in its leaf veins. Amazon asters sway in the gentle tropical breeze. You’ll learn to stitch the lollipop lily, Argentine weeping lilies and the rain lily,  all with techniques that can be used on other designs. The teacup flower collects cast-on stitches and bullions together. Design by Rosalie Wakefield, Millefiori.

This is a fun, low pressure class in which you will learn some very basic design principles

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This charming hat collection combines the beauty of Brazilian Embroidery with simple quilting techniques to create a wall hanging.  The first session of the class will be picking fabric for each season’s hat,  and deciding on flowers and stitches.  The second session will teach you to put the blocks together to create a pieced and quilted look hanging. Design by Sandy Velin & Teresa Harpster.

Three beautiful and unusual sunflowers, Prado Red, Teddy Bear, and Chocolate Cherry.  Each sunflower uses a different cast-on stitch technique. Satin stitch, self-padded, and fly stitch leaves accentuate the blossoms.  Session one will consist of stitching the self-padded Boucle leaf and the Cire fly-stitch leaf plus the Prada Red sunflower (left).  Session two will concentrate on the remaining two sunflowers.  I hope you like cast-ons!  😉  A doodle cloth will be provided.  Printed on silk noil (raw silk) or white trigger. Design by Debbie Kelley, DK Designs.

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Spring Wreath brings a beautiful medley of blues, purples, pinks and greens. Included are cheerful Johnny-Jump-Ups, Trillium, Bleeding Heart and other spring-blooming flowers. An intermediate design, Spring Wreath features mostly beginner-level stitches with intermediate-level double cast-ons, wrapped chain stitch and detached buttonhole. Three black beads are used for the centers of the anemones. Design by Judy Borreson Caruso. 

This brave swan proudly swims past the others in the lake as she shows off her beautiful sunflower skirt. Each decorative sunflower is completed with different stitches, some of them known to you and some not. In the first class session you will stitch the swan, one of the three flowers, and a leaf or two. More leaves and the remaining two flowers that contain new stitches will be introduced in the second class session. Design by Ruby Scruggs.

Spring has sprung and the bulbs are in bloom!  Stitch a picture of daffodil, tulip, grape hyacinth, and blue bells to get in the mood. Cast-on stitches are used in a variety of ways. Design by Loretta Holzberger.

A little love never hurt anyone!  A project that will increase your love of weaving. Double weaving done on the stem with two weights and three different colors will create texture and dimension. Spiderweb woven flowers make a big impact in Cire! Add double cast-on stitch variation to creat shadows on the flower edges.  Finish up with some sweet little ladybugs placed with love!  Big enough to make a statement, yet small enough to complete at seminar! Design by Diana Roby.

If you have problems with long bullions, especially curved ones, this class is for you!  Seven delicate ornamental double cherry blossoms resting on a backdrop of blanket stitch leaves, a beautiful representation of the first signs of spring!  We will work on long bullions, making sure they are even, tight, and under control! Design by Debbie Kelley, DK Designs.

Butterflies are always in season and this design has 10 butterflies and 11 different flowers. Beneath the mossy branch border, the stitcher is drawn into a garden of wonders where lilacs and buddleia, hypericum and scabiosa, silene, asclepias, crepe myrtle and creeping phlox, goldenrod, dog violets and starry eyes exist only for the pleasure of butterflies, their colorful flight sparkling amid the flowers. Design by Rosalie Wakefield., Millefiori.

Me & Ma’s apple tree has a strong textured trunk with branches in the four seasons. Spring is bursting with pink and white apple blossoms with a low branch for Ma’s reading hideaway. Summer greenery embraces little green apples and protects mama bird in her nest. Autumn apples are red, ripe and ready for picking, guarded by green-eyed golden kitty hiding in the colorful fall foliage. Winter birds perch on snow covered branches as crystal snowflakes float to the ground. Class emphasis on using floss weights and colors to stitch texture, using basic BE stitches. We will work on the tree in class, and every student’s result will be unique. Specialty threads make glittery piles of snow in branches and on the ground. Design by Patti Lee.

This lily appears to have flaming petals!  Three petals are on the fabric and three petals are stumpwork.  Attached to the bottom of the flower are six stamens constructed from floss, wire, and beads. You get to stitch a closed bud with a padded spider-web and another bud that has opened at the bottom and will eventually curl its leaves upward in full bloom.  This lily has leaves with tendrils at the tips seeking to climb upwards. Design by Deborah Goff.

Grapes and Sunflower  or Sunflower & Lupine. The creative use of threads and beads make this a memorable project with the sunflower. Students may choose between the Sunflower and Lupine. Many of the techniques are the same for this class. Design by Elaine Keller, A Candle in the Cellar. 

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Here’s your opportunity to use all 8 thread weights and 19 beginner-level stitches in one design. And, you can spin in a circle as you do it! Pretty springtime flowers grace this wreath and your eye will journey around trying to find them all. Design by Judy Borreson Caruso.

A couple of years ago Sandy Watson and Loretta Holzberger taught a class on hand dyeing on silk. Last year the suggestion to have a class to stitch on the scarves was made. This will be an open class to create flowers, leaves and unique flower centers on your printed scarves using the designs you’ve created with your dyes and water and the massaging of the fabric after the dye is added to the fabric.The scarf is then dried. We will then look at the design and create the flower or foliage or special design that the dye has created. Each student will have input on all the scarves. There will be examples for you to see of some finished scarves. The weight of the thread to use and the type of stitch will be part of the discussion of your creation of your flowers, foliage and centers. Come and have fun creating your beautiful scarf. Design by Jinx Shearrer & Student.

Oh, the beauty and versatility of shibori ribbon. I had so much fun with color while working this design, and with the dynamics of hand-dyed shibori ribbon no two kits will be exactly alike.  Color can be used to communicate, just like words and music.  Each leaf uses color to communicate a season on the "outer side", and the transition into the next season on the "inner side".    The leaves are assembled off the fabric and then integrated into the fabric using various stitches. Parts of the leaves are not attached to the fabric, lending a very dimensional look to the piece.  In class we will work on a "doodle leaf", it will be usable as a single-leaf design, so no work or materials will be wasted.  Doodle leaf colors will vary and probably won’t have a "seasonal" theme.  I used silk chamois cloth for my background and will have some available for purchase in class.  Students may choose their own background fabric, keep in mind it shouldn’t be too "busy", you want those leaves to show!  The background fabric is nt needed for the class, students can wait until after the class to find their perfect background fabric. Below the class photo of the main leaves are two photos of shibori ribbon.  As you can see in the top ribbon photo, the color varies along the ribbons, this is why the kit colors will vary.  Also, the bottom ribbon photo shows an alternate “lighter” color ribbon kit choice in case you don’t like the dark, intense colors. Design by Debbie Kelley DK Designs.

Learn my technique for doing double knotted cast-ons for the wisteria flowers. Stitch an intricate stalk-like green and brown moss constructed of five side drizzles and knotted cast-ons off of a single drizzle. Learn to do the raised stem stitch and several other stitches.  Stitch a dragon that appears majestic befitting a bonsai pot. Design by Deborah Goff.

For some years, I have been creating jewelry which incorporate some Brazilian embroidery. These are small projects that explore different techniques. This soutache and Shibori project could be finished as a pendant, an ornament or as a bracelet. The peacock can be stitched in peacock blue and green or in white, student's choice.. Design by Nicole Gelinas.

Learn some techniques for painting silk and making shaped flowers from layers of silk that have been fused together.  You get to choose the flower design to work on from my book, Silk Flowers to Dye For.  Not only will you paint the flower petals and leaves, but also the background fabric.  Come join me to have fun playing with paint. You should have the parts for one 5 x 7 design painted and ready to assemble in class. Design by Loretta Holzberger.

I have always been fascinated by the various creatures and flora you might find in the jungles of Africa and now you can stitch them and have a bright, fun design with a lion, giraffe, monkey and more.  The flowers and leaves are all so different than any we have here in the USA and a delight to see come alive as you stitch and, of course, there is the waterfall and rainbow. Design by Rosalie Wakefield, Millefiori.

I have always wanted to stitch a design featuring a bunch of grapes.  The obstacle has always been the SIZE of the grape leaves and how to stitch them in a pleasing manner.  For this design, I have borrowed a technique used by art-quilters to incorporate these gorgeous silk leaves! We will work on the construction of the background (layering fabric, leaves, and tulle), stem and tendrils in class.  A doodle cloth will be provided for practicing the grape technique. The design will be available in the color shown or a lighter green background version with lighter grapes. Design by Debbie Kelley, DK Designs

See TA-6 (Tuesday AM)

Make this charming scissor fob which is a combination of Brazilian Embroidery and beading on black ultra suede. You will learn beading techniques and incorporate BE in with the beads. Design by Teresa Harpster.

Students will create a picture of wild flowers "real and imagined" and frame their picture in a 7-inch embroidery hoop. They will learn 8 basic hand-embroidery stitches.  Students will learn how to create smooth satin and buttonhole stitches using multi-stranded threads.  They will also discuss how to choose the right number of strands for the different flowers.  Needle placement and thread tension will be emphasized. Design by Ann Frazier.

See TA-4 (Tuesday AM)

Stitch this exotic, tropical cactus so that you can admire the flowers that only bloom for one night all year long.  You will learn how to do a braided chain, hopper, woven cactus stem, bullion loops with tiny bites, corded buttonhole, faggoting, and my own technique for a star-crossed drizzle, a variation of Rosalie Wakefield’s star-crossed drizzle stitch. Design by Deborah Goff.

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