Quilt Guild Resources

β€œMy goal as an improviser and teacher is to teach a range of flexible pattern possibilities so that you can discover YOUR way of making quilts. We each have the freedom to begin where we are and continue to grow!”

β€” SHERRI LYNN WOOD

Teaching Philosophy

I teach improv quilting as a heart-centered, creative life practice. I love bringing the joy and liberation of improv patchwork to your quilt guild members.

I offer a unique multi-disciplinary approach to improvisational patchwork that doesn’t rely on step-by-step instructions for following a fixed pattern. Instead, I teach my students how to define frameworks for flexible patterns that support their curiosity, exploration and creative flow. I invite participants to channel their experiences of improvising in their daily lives into their quilting.

Participants gain a comprehensive set of ruler-free sewing and quilting techniques, mind tools for accessing creativity, and a broader understanding of the improvisational quilting process.

Online Lectures and Demos for Quilt Guilds

I offer interactive livestream improv quilting lectures and demos exclusively for quilt guilds.

  • The fee is $575 for up to 100 participants; $700 for over 100.

  • Quilt guilds are welcome to invite and sell tickets to visitors and handle all registration and promotion. I provide images for promotional purposes.

  • The quilt guild hosts the event on their Zoom account and provides tech support.

  • No recordings are allowed.

  • The fee must be paid in full before the improv quilting event begins.

  • My invoice serves as our agreement and terms of service. I do not sign quilt guild contracts for online programs.

  • The fee Includes a 10% discount for your quilt guild members to attend one of my public quilt classes online.

  • Currently booking online events through the end of 2024.

  • I do not offer workshops online but I am available for in-person teaching - see below.

  • This comprehensive presentation on improv quilting, reviews key practices important for developing your skills as an improviser, and concludes with a demo, and time for Q&A. Leave with ruler-free techniques, mind tools, tips and a fresh perspective on how to apply the life liberating skills of improv quilting.

    Improvise! Creating, Quilting, & Living Courageously
    1 hour Lecture w/ .5 hr Demo (online only)

  • Follow along as I describe my four-month artist residency at Recology in 2016. My goal was to explore the nature of making do while creating an exhibition, including six quilts, made entirely out of materials scavenged from the San Francisco dump.

    The Practice Of Making Do
    1 - 1.5 hour Lecture

  • This fun interactive improv quilting demo begins with a short brainstorming session about the limits of patchwork and how to easily apply limits to access your creative flow and focus your improv patterns. I will demonstrate a variety of ruler-free quilting techniques and the process of improvisational quilting by following audience prompts to improvise a quilt composition on the spot.

    Ruler-Free Improv Quilting Mashup
    1-1.5 hr Interactive Demo

  • Working with materials that carry meaning, memory and emotion, the creative process of Passage Quilting fosters a healing heart. I will review memorial and scrap quilting traditions with historical images, and share stories from my 20 years of practice to illustrate how Passage Quilting supports the bereavement and growth process we all experience during times of transition and loss.

    Passage Quilting
    1- 1.5 hr lecture

In-Person Improv Quilt Classes and Lectures for Guilds & Conferences

Check out my in-person classes for guilds!

Bring me to your quilt guild for an in-person weekend of heart-centered improv quilting β€” two days of workshops plus a lecture for $3700.

1 & 2-day in-person quilt classes include 6 hours of instruction per day plus 1 hour for lunch. Lectures are 1 to 1.5 hours.

  • My minimum threshold for overnight booking $3700.

  • Daily workshop fee: $1,500 for up to 16 students. $100 for each additional student with a max of 21 students.

  • In-person Lecture fee: $1,000 (30% discount when combined with two days of classes)

  • Your guild provides all transportation fees, hotel, and meals on event days.

  • A $400 booking deposit is required at the time of the contract and applied to the workshop fees; refundable if I am unable to make the event, forfeited if the guild cancels.

  • Currently booking in-person events through the end of 2025.

I’m also available for multiple-day conferences and retreats with negotiated rates.

Contact me to book an in-person lecture or workshop with your quilt guild or conference.

What people are saying…

  • "Sherri's improv quilting workshops are life-changing! I "tried" improv quilting while still engaged in painting, drawing and print-making and have never looked back. Improv quilting is my only art and my lifeline to creative, intuitive play. I've learned how to make quilts (I'd never made a more traditional pieced quilt before trying improv) and after much seeking found a medium that nourishes my soul in the making."

    Mary Harman

  • "The first time I took a workshop from Sherri, I came away changed. I had no idea that making a quilt could be so effortless and fun!"

    Sarah Atlee

  • β€œIn Sherri’s improv classes I developed the confidence to play with color, lines, and shapes which has spread to all my sewing projects. Sherri’s improv approach has encouraged me to recaptured a childlike joy and pleasure in the process of sewing! No mistakes! No right or wrong!”

    Connie Wood

  • β€œIt’s always pure delight to take a workshop with Sherri. Her joy is contagious and her teaching style promotes finding your own joy, voice and peace. I feel a lot more confident in my improv after being in Sherri’s presence.”

    Candi Lennox

  • "Sherri’s workshops are engaging and support the direction of my quilting practice. Every workshop that I have taken with Sherri I have been able to apply the knowledge to the work that I am doing as a quilter. Sherri’s wealth of knowledge and down to earth approach to teaching creates the perfect atmosphere for me to grow in and I appreciate that."

    Kianga Jinaki

  • β€œI was looking for a workshop series that could evolve my art quilting into something more professional and that is exactly what I got from both Sherri and her excellent guests. I’ve incorporated her approaches in my continuing work with much success. Time to sew and get feedback in the workshop itself was also important to me.”

    Margaret Grottenthaler

  • "Sherri's workshops have taught me to expect the unexpected, to let go of my preconceived goals and open myself to whatever happens. This may sound fluffy, but it really is a journey of selfexploration as much as a creative process. My initial urge to control, perfect and power on towards a pre-defined goal is quickly derailed by Sherri's workshops prompt me to explore new routes, dare detours and unknown alleys. Always arriving at something totally new, but still totally me."

    Karolina Lidin

  • β€œSherri's workshops are the best I've taken online. They are well organized, technically as perfect as online workshops can be, and then there is the content. The workshops are about creative courage. They work for the rank beginner (me) and people who have been quilting for years. These workshops are not just about craft. There are short but inspirational talks by guest quilters, small group breakouts that allow a participants to interact with other quilters, and real time techniques and prompts. And an online followup. It has been an extraordinary experience and a major part of my creative life.”

    Susan King

  • "Zoom opened the doors and of all the wonderful people who came into my life Sherri Lynn Wood has had the greatest impact. Sherri Lynn is the rare kind of teacher who changes and heals you by opening you up. During the workshop series I have gained confidence in my own process through listening to my own creative voice. I have learned I can use fabric to tell a story."

    Helen Roth

  • "My participation in the Sherri's workshops allowed me to develop my creativity when I had reached a plateau in my quilter work. Sherri is a benevolent leader who helps me overcome my fears in creation and brings up new questions: what surprises me in my discoveries, what is the element that drives me forward, etc."

    Brigitte Gagnon

  • "I have Sherri's book and loved the series this year. I liked being able to look at the chapters and review some of the material again after a session. I really enjoyed the resource people she brought in. I found them to be inspiring and very different from one another. Sherri's teaching style exemplifies a phrase we heard from Mary Margaret Pettway: DO YOU! Sherri didn't try to get me to do anything "her way," but rather provided practices and suggestions that opened up lots of possibilities for what I might try. Sherri is warm, welcoming, lively, knowledgable, and encouraging. I find he kind and inspiring to quilt with and learn from."

    Jeanette Stokes

  • "I have technical mastery of a broad range of quilting skills, but what I have learned the most from Sherri's workshops is how to tap into my heart when I make a quilt. The joy of being connected to my flow is something I have only felt with a few quilts until I started the workshops with Sherri. Now I want that feeling, pursue that feeling with each quilt that I make. Sherri has a very positive and affirming teaching style. The use of "yes, and..." has made me so aware of how often as quilters, as artists, as humans, we second guess ourselves and our ability to pursue our joy. I look at every quilt I make or that someone else makes with a completely different outlook now, a chance to find joy in the making."

    Victoria Nelson

  • "I don't know if I can ever use a pattern or template again after taking Sherri's improv workshops. Months later, I am still processing what I learned. I'm always thinking of ways to use my new skills and tap into creative reserves I didn't know I had. The guest speakers were awe-inspiring. I can't say enough about the wisdom they shared and their unique approaches to quilting. Sherri's own patience and positive approach give me confidence to deal with things I once considered mistakes. Her centering techniques and intention-setting go way beyond quilting. They are guideposts for living. I highly recommend Sherri's workshops for a mind-opening experience."

    Lori Hashizume

  • "I usually tell people that everything I know about quilting I learned from Sherri. For almost 20 years now I have looked to Sherri for inspiration and instruction--not just in improv patchwork and quilting, but in creating and maintaining a sustainable artistic practice and life. What Sherri teaches goes way beyond the workshop, extends out from the quilt into the everyday life of a maker, showing us the kind of paths we might improvise for our own lives. Sherri is generous, playful, nurturing, innovative, warm, embracing, and profoundly wise. It would be impossible to overstate the influence Sherri and her transformative teaching have had on me, as a quilter, and as a human. I am grateful to her beyond all words."

    Thisbe Nissen

Creative Community Mentoring

Our community is built on a heart-centered approach that recognizes improvisational quilt making as a profound creative life practice.

We get your improv quilts and value the unique vision and voice that you bring. We welcome you into this space as both mentee and mentor. Our commitment to community mentoring and creative connections is the soul and value of BravePatch membership.

Celebrating Differences, Crafting Connections

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