Allison Aller of Allie’s In Stitches is a world-renowned crazy quilter who makes absolutely incredible quilts!
And it’s one thing to make incredible crazy quilts – but to bring it off with ease, and to make it look so dang fun? Well, that’s Allie.
Hers is a blog I follow faithfully. She always has something to teach or something cheerful or beautiful to show or talk about.
And she has an awesome garden and grows killer tomatoes.
Well, it just so happens that Allie has joined the Craftsy community. If you haven’t heard of it, Craftsy is a website that offers high quality online video classes for affordable prices. Most of the classes have to do with things like regular quilting, knitting, sewing, cake decorating and the like.
But finally, something a little more embroidery-ish has worked into the mix – Crazy Quilting with Allie Aller.
I’m excited to see crazy quilting on the list. It may mean that surface embroidery is not far behind. And that means wider coverage and promotion of embroidery, right? And that’s what we all want, right?
With Allie as a teacher, you’ll learn the foundations of crazy quilting and beyond Really Well! I joined the class, and I’m so impressed with the materials and the instruction. It’s fun!
While I know I’m not destined to be a crazy quilter per se (the extent of my crazy quilting is this piece, which features goldwork and real metal threads on a crazy quilt square), there are topics in the class that I wanted to learn more about. For example, tricks on piecing together fabric pieces, tricks on appliqué, on floral embellishments and the like – these are techniques that, although I don’t use them in my everyday stitchy stuff, will some day come in handy for me.
Besides the whole piecing, appliquéing, “quilt” aspect of crazy quilting, the class covers embellishment. Allie spends quite a bit of time in the later lessons on embroidered seam treatments, where you see her working out various decorative seam treatments and teaching you the stitches along the way. She also covers aspects of ribbon embroidery – even the beginning stuff, like threading the needle and anchoring the stitches and so forth. This is golden information that can be applied to all kinds of surface embroidery beyond crazy quilting, and it’s all very clearly presented.
If crazy quilting has ever attracted you, but you’ve been intimidated by selecting fabrics, piecing fabrics, and all the technical aspects of crazy quilting, I think this class is a good (and affordable) way to learn.
Advantages of Craftsy Classes
Once you’ve signed up for a class on Craftsy, you always have access to it, so you can come back to the class whenever you need a refresher. This means you can work at your own pace, fitting the class into your busy lifestyle whenever you want to. Or – if you’re super-duper keen – you can gobble the whole class up all in one sitting!
You receive a lot of great printable class materials, like templates, step-by-step instructions, and a downloadable copy of Allie Aller’s Crazy Quilting, which I reviewed when it first came out. It’s a beautiful book – inspiring for the crazy quilter, but also for anyone who likes surface embroidery and embellishment.
If you’re hankering to add crazy quilting to your embroidery repertoire, come join me in Allie’s class on Craftsy. You can read the whole class description here.
The cost covers class access, materials, videos, interactive area for chatting, questions, feedback, etc. (including Allie’s Crazy Quilting book!). It doesn’t cover materials. They do have the option to buy a materials kit if you want to, but you can also work with whatever you have on hand.
See you there!
I would love to take this class! I am having trouble with the link to the class though.
Deb
Hi, Deb – oh, do take the class! The more I go through it, the more I’m impressed. The link is working on my end – maybe if you right click and choose open in a new window? You can also click on the picture…MC
Rrrrgh. Got it, Deb! I found the broken link – it was the one with the title of the class about half-way through. Fixed it! Thanks for letting me know! ~MC
Hello, Mary,
I got on the CQ site by clicking on the picture.
However, I am not able to access the $10 class discount. Is ther something I’m missing?
Ah – the class was listed on sale when I signed up….I wonder if that changed – I will check….MC
Ok, I just checked. Aaargh. I was looking at the wrong class! I will adjust that right now on the article. (Banging my head against the desk…..!!!)
Ok, Rosalie – I fixed that. So sorry about that. I was perusing about a dozen classes on there when I wrote the article – initially, I had some other interesting ones listed in the article, too, but I figured they weren’t quite on topic with needlework, so I scratched them. It’s still a reasonable price for what you get, that’s for sure!
~MC
Actually, Rosalie – when you sign up for Craftsy, if you check your email account after signing up, sometimes, there’s a deal in the “welcome” email. So if you’re going to sign up for the class, join Craftsy first, then check your e-mail for the welcome email. If there’s a discount for your first class, just click the link and then do a search for “Allie Aller” to apply the discount to that class. Definitely worth checking your email to see if they offer a welcome deal. Just got the low-down from someone who signed up that way…!
Mary, thanks for the information about Allie’s class. I am a true crazy quilter at heart. I signed up for the class. Now I need to find the time to start. :))
All the best,
Hi Mary! Thank you for posting this. I was looking for an online class for summer, as well as some for my kids. This was super timing, and a much appreciated recommendation. I had not seen Craftsy before. I forwarded it on to a friend as well. Perhaps she’ll join me. 🙂
Dear Mary
Thanks for letting us know about crazy quilting and the class information I’ve just been on the Allie’s website and the course looks really interesting and very reasonably priced and I love the colours of the quilting material she is using. I think you need a good sewing machine to do quilting which I don’t have it’s on my wish list ‘sigh’. I love your goldwork on the crazy quilt square are there any full finished photos of the piece it looks gorgeous your a wonder Mary.
Regards Anita Simmance
Hi Mary. Craftsy is new to me. Thank you for the info about the site. Can’t wait to see your posts about your crazy quilt.
Hi, Kathy – well, I probably won’t be doing a crazy quilt! I joined the class to learn some aspects of appliqué and piecing that I knew she would cover, but not really with the intention of making a crazy quilt. That’s a great thing about needlework, sewing, and the like – the techniques used in one type can be useful in others as well! – MC
Dear Mary, I’ve signed up as I do like crazy quilting but I recently managed to buy a beautiful piece of blue 28ct linen – similar to the linen with the pretty ‘B’ monogram you recently had a photo of here. Are we going to see more of it soon? PS I love your gold work crazy quilting – a visual feast!
Sounds fun! I like the look of CQ and it’s been on my ‘must try’ list for a while. I think the only problem with it, from the point of view of my design tastes, is that some blocks can get far too ‘busy’ for my liking and end up looking overdone and, oh so cluttered! I guess it’s quite a fine balance getting the amount of embellishment right with these designs.=)
Hi
Now I know what to call the sort of stuff I do! Crazy Quilting! I keeping calling it fabric collage – with machine embroidery!
Great!
So, Mary, how about YOU teach a Craftsy class on surface embroidery?
You do such a nice job of demonstrating different stitches, as well as choosing fabric, threads, etc., for projects – you’re a natural! For me, your blog is often a mini-class – I’ve learned so much! And if you do put together a Craftsy class, I for one would sign up immediately!
Thanks for all you do – you are always a bright spot in my day.
I just signed up for the crazy quilting class. I’ve love cq for years but always wanting to learn something new. From Allie’s info I discovered your blog and will definitely return as I’ve already discovered 2 stitches not in my skill base. What fun!
I registered for the Craftsy class through my iPad app for a 25% discount. I just checked and using my laptop there is no discount. Not sure why, but I am a frequent customer with over 20 classes. Allie did have a discount if you entered through her blog, not sure if it is still in effect. Hope this helps someone.
PS I have a beautiful embroidery machine but it will never replace handwork for me.
For any of you who want to try out Allie Aller’s Crazy Quilt class on Craftsy. Right now Craftsy is offering a 3 day sale – any class $9.99. Truly a great deal.
Hopefully this link will work:
http://www.craftsy.com/class/crazy-quilts/312?fromQuery=crazy
If not just go to http://www.craftsy.com. Remember it is a 3 day sale.
Kathy, my Craftsy email this morning said any class for $19.99! How did you find an offer for $9.99?
Cindy,
It was in my e-mail this morning. Did the link I send you give you the $9.99 price?
No, that link didn’t even give me the $19.99 price! The 2 classes I wanted to sign up for were still listed at $39.99
I had to go in through my email link to get the $19.99 price. I went ahead and signed up and paid for the 2 classes at $19.99, but you can bet I am going to complain about the discrepancies in their pricing!
Thanks, Kathy!
Wow! That doesn’t make sense at all. I just assumed that because I received an e-mail describing a 3 day sale that it was for everyone. You would think that they would realize that people who are interested in their products typically share information among themselves. How very disappointing to discover that they have different promotions for different customers. I would definitely contact their customer service and complain.
I agree. I called them and told them there was a discrepency in pricing and they told me the $9.99 price was for people who were signing up for their FIRST class. Which is weird because a couple months ago when I signed up for my first class, I paid full price. No discount at all.
The 2 classes were a bargain at $19.99. Even at full price, I still bite the bullet because I would never have an opportunity to take classes like these where I live.
I hate it when a company does this. Offers great deals to new customers without rewarding the old customers.