{"id":2264,"date":"2014-10-13T11:45:42","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T18:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.road2cablog.com\/?p=2264"},"modified":"2014-10-13T11:45:42","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T18:45:42","slug":"road-2015-faculty-spotlight-meet-donna-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/road2ca.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/13\/road-2015-faculty-spotlight-meet-donna-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"Road 2015 Faculty Spotlight: Meet Donna Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tDonna will be teaching four classes: 4013C Batik Feathers\u00a0<\/strong>on Thursday, 5012C Fearless Fabric Play\u00a0<\/strong>on Friday, 6011C Party Poppers\u00a0<\/strong>on Saturday, and 7006C\u00a0Interlocken \u00a0<\/strong>on Sunday.\"Donna<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal: <\/em>Donna Thomas loves her pets so much that she named her company after her cats:\u00a0 Pre-Furred Qulits<\/em>! When she is not quilting, Donna likes doing big puzzles. Donna is a devoted fan of the Outlander<\/em> <\/a>book series. She has the 8th book waiting for her to finish re-reading the last three books so she can refresh her memory of the details. She is almost done with A Breath of Snow and Ashes.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you get interested in quilting? \u00a0My mother loved making clothes and so I sewed all my life from age 3 or 4 in some form or other, but mostly hand needlework and later clothes. In 1975, between my sophomore and junior years of college, I met this awful boy while at my summer landscaping nursery job. He used to tease me horribly. Finally, at the end of the summer, he asked me out on a date. He turned out to be quite a nice guy. That fall, he had a birthday coming and I had no money but I did have a bag of home economic scraps from the late 60\u2019s and early 70\u2019s and a picture of an antique Dresden Plate quilt. So I made this monstrosity from double knits, polyester denim, two extra loft poly batting, and no instruction—I just dove in. I cringe when I think of it. But I loved the colors, all the prints, the puzzle-like aspect of it—- and there were no zippers or buttonholes! Well, yup, I married the guy and we still have it. I take it to local lectures sometimes. It\u2019s too heavy to ship for out of town trips!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you find inspiration for your quilting? I love the old blocks\u2014mixing them, changing them here and there, or designing my own. I\u2019m a puzzle fiend and math geek so I love the geometry and intricacy of piecing.\"Donna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the one quilting tool you can\u2019t live without? My hands!! Why? I\u00a0couldn’t imagine not being able to sew. I love hand piecing as well as machine piecing so at a minimum as long as I can cut and sew pieces, hold and thread a needle, I can make quilts. Not to say I don\u2019t love my machines and rotary tools. But without my hands I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0do any of it.\"Donna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is the farthest you\u2019ve traveled that was quilt related? I had the opportunity to live in Germany and teach at a German quilt shop in Bad Soden for several years. I also taught to American and German guilds around the country while I was there. I happened to be teaching in Berlin the week the wall started to come down. My family was with me and my sons \u00a0got to chop off pieces of the wall and get their pictures taken with the Soviet soldiers on the other side. It was quite amazing to see history in the making.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been the best class you have taken? Harriet Hargrave\u2019s<\/a> machine-quilting class. I took it twice and I flunked it twice. \u00a0But being a bit stubborn, someday I intend to conquer and master free-motion machine quilting!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you like best about teaching? When what I\u2019m teaching \u2018clicks\u2019 and you can see it in someone\u2019s face and they\u2019re so excited and proud. There\u2019s nothing better.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you want your students to get out of your class? Skills mastery, success, and hopefully some fun too!\"Donna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your best quilting tip?\u00a0 Learn to master making an accurate quilter\u2019s 1\/4\u201d seam allowance. In addition to cutting accurately, there is nothing more important for frustration-free piecing. It\u2019s hard to enjoy the process if your pieces don\u2019t fit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit Donna on her blog, Donnalynnthomas.blogspot.com\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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