Denise’s quilts depend on the extensive intermixed use of multiple appliqué and other construction techniques. Her two-day Construction Techniques workshop focuses on those quilt top construction techniques key to Denise's own quilts, including: reverse appliqué, turned edge appliqué, raw edge appliqué, insetting, free-form strip piecing, and couching. The overall goal is for students to gain a real and hands-on understanding of the comparative strengths, benefits, and use – basically, the “what, why, when, and how" – of these (alternative) quilt top construction techniques. She also teaches her beginning-to-end construction sequencing plus quilt finishing (including casings and facings).
For example, as shown below, turned edge appliqué helps “pop” out objects from the background, whereas raw edge appliqué does exactly the opposite (in that it tends to flatten objects). Reverse appliqué, in contrast, helps with shadowing (lights and darks) and textures, adding to an object's distinct dimensionality and "personality" in ways not otherwise possible. Insetting is an alternative technique to turned edge appliqué, providing very clear fabric boundaries and no visible stitching.
Denise's Construction Techniques workshops focus on ensuring that each participant becomes fully comfortable with these various techniques, along with benefitting from Denise's rich understanding of construction technique "best practices".
Example of Reverse Appliqué
Example of Raw Edge Appliqué
Example of Turned Edge Appliqué
Example of Insetting (both the Moon and the Stones) and Free-Form Strip Piecing
Example of Free-Form Strip Piecing and Couching