Reimagined: Artful Quilts from Everyday Cloth
Ever wondered how to ‘reimagine’ clothing to use for quilts? Not sure how or where to start? This workshop will help you take the leap to turn repurposed clothing to memorable quilts and help you exercise your improvisational creative muscles!
In this workshop you’ll learn how to ‘debone’ a sewn garment to garner fabric pieces – large and small – for your quilt. We’ll explore improvisational quilt concepts such as making choices as you go, embracing imperfection, and taking small steps to get started. With guided exploration, we focus on the enjoyment of the process and the satisfaction of creating something unique!
Supply List
- Sewing machine (that works) and basic knowledge of how to use it (how to thread, wind bobbin, etc.)
- Men’s dress shirts (seven or more; from thrift stores, castoffs, etc.)
- Range of darks, mediums and lights
- Cotton, poly or blends (stick to woven fabrics, no knits)
- Seam ripper (for popping off buttons)
- Rotary cutter (45mm or 60mm)
- Self-healing cutting mat
- Container for removed buttons
- Thread for sewing machine (neutral color)
- Ruler (acrylic, 3”x 18” or 6”x 24”)
- Sewing needles for hand quilting (optional)
- Small design wall (24” x 24” piece of batting or white flannel)
Lorraine Woodruff-Long is a self-taught San Francisco quilter with a primary focus on color, improvisation, and recycled/repurposed fabrics. Her passion is creating quilts as political and social commentary. She is familiar under her quilting name on Instagram @quiltinginthefog or her website, QuiltingintheFog.com
Raised in Houston, and educated at University of Texas/Austin with a business degree, Lorraine served in the Peace Corps in Kenya and afterwards moved to California where she fell in love with San Francisco and never left. Following a career in marketing and advertising, Lorraine worked in the nonprofit sector while raising two city kids with her architect husband before spring boarding into a fiber art practice prompted by the pandemic.
Lorraine’s work has been juried into exhibitions at the de Young Museum/San Francisco, the California Heritage Museum/Santa Monica, the Sanchez Art Center/Pacifica, Muzeo Museum & Cultural Center/Anaheim, TAG Gallery/Los Angeles the Drawing Room/San Francisco, and the San Francisco Women Artists Network Gallery. She has received numerous awards for her quilts at local, national, and international quilt shows. Quilt exhibitions include the International Quilt Festival/Houston, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), QuiltCon, the Pacific International Quilt Festival, Visions in Cloth, and Quilt San Francisco, among others.
Her work is included in the 2021 book, “Stitching Stolen Lives: The Social Justice Sewing Academy Remembrance Project.” Lorraine’s work has been featured on The Quilt Show, Art Quilting Studio Magazine, Patchwork Professional, Art is Awesome Podcast, and the online publications, Create Whimsy and Canvas Rebel.
Lorraine is a quilting instructor at City College of San Francisco Extension and SCRAP-SF and teaches workshops to quilt guilds around the country.