Block Studies Collective - Season 4
Sign ups open through October 11th!!
Doors are closing soon!!!
Sign up now and join the collective.
The doors will close October 11th, and will reopen in the fall of 2027.
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CREATIVITY IN BITE SIZE PIECES
Block Studies Collective is a six-month membership where we'll explore color, learn new techniques, and make small quilt studies together. It's a place to experiment, play with color, try new techniques, and see where an idea takes you!
I started making these small studies as part of my own creative practice. Sometimes they grew into full-size quilts. Sometimes they didn't. Either way, they always taught me something. Working small creates space to explore without the pressure of making an entire quilt.
Each month I'll share a new block, a color palette to work from, and step-by-step video lessons. You can use the palette exactly as it is, change it completely, or use it as a jumping-off point for your own ideas. Along the way, I'll share creative prompts and ideas for taking each study in different directions.
One of my favorite parts of Block Studies Collective is seeing how differently everyone interprets the same starting point! We'll sew together, share what we're working on, ask questions, and encourage each other along the way. If that sounds like the kind of creative space you've been looking for, I'd love to have you join us.
Membership runs from October 2026 through March 2027.
You'll continue to have access to all of the course content after the membership ends.
I started making these small studies as part of my own creative practice. Sometimes they grew into full-size quilts. Sometimes they didn't. Either way, they always taught me something. Working small creates space to explore without the pressure of making an entire quilt.
Each month I'll share a new block, a color palette to work from, and step-by-step video lessons. You can use the palette exactly as it is, change it completely, or use it as a jumping-off point for your own ideas. Along the way, I'll share creative prompts and ideas for taking each study in different directions.
One of my favorite parts of Block Studies Collective is seeing how differently everyone interprets the same starting point! We'll sew together, share what we're working on, ask questions, and encourage each other along the way. If that sounds like the kind of creative space you've been looking for, I'd love to have you join us.
Membership runs from October 2026 through March 2027.
You'll continue to have access to all of the course content after the membership ends.
What's included each month
A NEW BLOCK
Each month we'll begin with a new block. Working small is a chance to explore an idea without the pressure of making a finished quilt. Sometimes a study becomes the starting point for a full-size quilt. Sometimes it doesn't. Either way, it's always an opportunity to learn.
CREATIVE PROMPTS
I'll give you ideas for taking the month's block in different directions. Try a new layout, play with color, change the proportions, or see what happens when you take the idea in a completely different direction!
A CURATED COLOR PALETTE
Every month I'll share a color palette to work from. You can use it exactly as it is, change it completely, or use it as a jumping-off point for your own ideas. You might discover a new favorite color combination, or realize you love colors you never would have put together on your own.
IN-DEPTH VIDEO LESSONS
I'll walk you through each block from start to finish, sharing how I approach the block, what I'm paying attention to, and all the little things I've learned along the way.
Each month we'll begin with a new block. Working small is a chance to explore an idea without the pressure of making a finished quilt. Sometimes a study becomes the starting point for a full-size quilt. Sometimes it doesn't. Either way, it's always an opportunity to learn.
CREATIVE PROMPTS
I'll give you ideas for taking the month's block in different directions. Try a new layout, play with color, change the proportions, or see what happens when you take the idea in a completely different direction!
A CURATED COLOR PALETTE
Every month I'll share a color palette to work from. You can use it exactly as it is, change it completely, or use it as a jumping-off point for your own ideas. You might discover a new favorite color combination, or realize you love colors you never would have put together on your own.
IN-DEPTH VIDEO LESSONS
I'll walk you through each block from start to finish, sharing how I approach the block, what I'm paying attention to, and all the little things I've learned along the way.
ZOOM MEETUPS
We'll meet twice each month for presentations from me and some amazing guest speakers, with plenty of time for questions and discussion.
Can't make it live? No problem-every Zoom is recorded, so you can watch on your own time.
DROP IN SEW DAYS
Join us each month for a relaxed virtual sew day! Bring whatever you're working on, spend time with other BSC members, ask questions, and enjoy a few hours of excellent creative company!
GUEST SPEAKERS
Latifah Saafir, e bond, Mindy Brown and Susan Lapham will all be coming on to chat about their sewing practice and share their work!
A PRIVATE COMMUNITY OF LIKE MINDED QUILTERS
One of my favorite parts of Block Studies is seeing how differently everyone interprets the same starting point. Someone tries a color combination you never would have considered. Someone takes the block in a completely unexpected direction. And suddenly you have three new ideas you want to try.
Our private Thinkific community is where we share what we're making, ask questions, cheer each other on and get inspired by what everyone else is doing. These are your people!!
We'll meet twice each month for presentations from me and some amazing guest speakers, with plenty of time for questions and discussion.
Can't make it live? No problem-every Zoom is recorded, so you can watch on your own time.
DROP IN SEW DAYS
Join us each month for a relaxed virtual sew day! Bring whatever you're working on, spend time with other BSC members, ask questions, and enjoy a few hours of excellent creative company!
GUEST SPEAKERS
Latifah Saafir, e bond, Mindy Brown and Susan Lapham will all be coming on to chat about their sewing practice and share their work!
A PRIVATE COMMUNITY OF LIKE MINDED QUILTERS
One of my favorite parts of Block Studies is seeing how differently everyone interprets the same starting point. Someone tries a color combination you never would have considered. Someone takes the block in a completely unexpected direction. And suddenly you have three new ideas you want to try.
Our private Thinkific community is where we share what we're making, ask questions, cheer each other on and get inspired by what everyone else is doing. These are your people!!
Pricing options
Two ways to join. Choose the option that works best for you.
Pay once and save on the full six-month membership, or spread your payments over six monthly installments.
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Join at this level
$225.00
Regular price
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Join at this level
$42 per month
Monthly payment plan
Why join Block Studies Collective
We all need time to connect and sew!
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PLAY WITH COLOR
Explore new palettes and unexpected color combinations. -
LEARN NEW TECHNIQUES
Explore a new technique each month. -
MAKE TIME TO EXPERIMENT
Follow an idea and see where it leads! -
FOCUS ON PROCESS
Enjoy the freedom of working small. -
BE INSPIRED BY OTHERS
See how differently everyone interprets the same starting point.
Here's what folks are saying about the Block Studies Collective
Mindblowingly A W E S O M E!!
Elizabeth Goldbaum
I watched segments twice, took notes, printed the written instructions and notated those.....so clear, concise and helpful! Tara, you are a natural instructor and your can-do, try-it-out, experiment philosophy - and the speed with which you tackle...
Read MoreI watched segments twice, took notes, printed the written instructions and notated those.....so clear, concise and helpful! Tara, you are a natural instructor and your can-do, try-it-out, experiment philosophy - and the speed with which you tackle what seems like insanely complicated techniques - helped build my confidence!
Read LessBlock Studies with Tara Faughnan
shelley paine
Tara Faughnan is an extraordinary artist. She shares freely and is incredibly supportive.the video tutorials breakdown each block and technique into great detail. I would recommend this class to anyone wanting to learn quilt technique and wants to...
Read MoreTara Faughnan is an extraordinary artist. She shares freely and is incredibly supportive.the video tutorials breakdown each block and technique into great detail. I would recommend this class to anyone wanting to learn quilt technique and wants to launch into their own design work.
Read LessWonderful experimentation and play
Val Shewell
Lots of fun learning about MY color preferences!
Lots of fun learning about MY color preferences!
Read LessFree your creative spirit in a supportive community
Debra Stoner
This course is a unique combination of structured freestyle quilting. I love it. There is plenty of instruction to put you at ease and vibrant encouragement to push you into experimenting. Thank you, Tara, you rock color and design!
This course is a unique combination of structured freestyle quilting. I love it. There is plenty of instruction to put you at ease and vibrant encouragement to push you into experimenting. Thank you, Tara, you rock color and design!
Read LessAn adventure in colour and improvisation
Cathie Delaney
This course was the first time I have ever been given a colour palette and a pattern, and then encouraged to make it my own. The course community page provided wonderful inspiration, along with Tara's discussions about colour and pattern
This course was the first time I have ever been given a colour palette and a pattern, and then encouraged to make it my own. The course community page provided wonderful inspiration, along with Tara's discussions about colour and pattern
Read LessInspiring and motivating
Sherry Keller
Tara, just finished watching all the month's videos and I have to say that I am raring to go and so impressed by the generosity and the way you share your ideas and process. AWESOME! Hope to see you soon.
Tara, just finished watching all the month's videos and I have to say that I am raring to go and so impressed by the generosity and the way you share your ideas and process. AWESOME! Hope to see you soon.
Read LessInspiring
Debra Stoner
I was never comfortable playing with colors. I was a quilt kit person. Now I'm crazy about playing with colors. I trust myself to have fun and follow my intuition. It's freeing! Tara is a fantastic teacher. She encourages exploration and experimen...
Read MoreI was never comfortable playing with colors. I was a quilt kit person. Now I'm crazy about playing with colors. I trust myself to have fun and follow my intuition. It's freeing! Tara is a fantastic teacher. She encourages exploration and experimentation, then praises all the effort.
Read LessThe beauty of working small
Working small creates space to experiment, explore, and discover new ideas.
One of my favorite parts of Block Studies Collective is seeing how differently everyone interprets the same starting point. Give everyone the same block and color palette, and every single person comes back with something uniquely their own.
As quilters, we don't often make small studies just to explore an idea. We usually jump straight into making the quilt. Working small changes that. It gives you space to play, experiment, and follow your curiosity without the pressure of making a finished quilt.
Sometimes a study becomes the starting point for a full-size quilt. Sometimes it doesn't. Either way, it's an opportunity to learn.
Meet Tara
Tara Faughnan
[email protected]
I am a professional textile designer and quilter living and working in Oakland, CA. I started to quilt around 2001 or so, using a reprint of the 1931 edition of 101 Patchwork Patterns by Ruby Short McKim as my guide. I had no idea such things as rotary cutters, rulers or plastic templates existed, and spent many happy weeks tracing around cardboard templates and cutting out pieces with a pair of scissors.
Somewhere along the way, my love of quilting led to school and on to a career in textile design, with clients including Michael Miller Fabrics, Riley Blake and Pottery Barn Kids.
I find inspiration in forms, shapes and the place where 2 seams meet. Color interaction is the key inspiration that drives me. It's that intuitive moment when you put two colors together, and then two more, and two more after that that I focus on. The explorations are endless and I strive to try to walk the line of discomfort and still make everything work together as a whole.
I draw a lot of inspiration from the simple bold geometry of antique quilts, the gorgeous bright colors from textiles around the world, and freedom and spontaneity found in unconventional and improvisational quilts. When I look at my current work, I see all 3 of these aspects represented. I like to use simple geometry, complex color interaction and find the line the exists somewhere between harmony and discord.
Meet the Guest Speakers
Latifah Saafir
Guest Designer
[email protected]
Latifah Saafir is a Professional Seam Ripper and Hoarder of Fabric. She tries to justify her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree by designing cool, multi-functional tools for quilters to use like The Clammy and The HuRTy. She loves to challenge quilters to try hard things - and make them easier - by developing clear, approachable techniques for skills like curved piecing, bias tape appliqué, and half-rectangle triangles.
Having learned to sew as a kid, Latifah now works to inspire the next generation through her Quilt Cadets line, designed especially for kids who sew. A co-founder of both the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild and the Modern Quilt Guild worldwide, she’s on a mission to fill the world with quilty friends.
Her greatest love is teaching - but most days you’ll find her at her computer, feverishly trying to crack the code for the next pattern that’s destined to go viral.
Instagram: http://instagram.com/latifahsaafirstudios
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/latifahsaafirstudios
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/latifahsaafirstudios
Mindy Brown
Guest Speaker
Mindy Brown is a contemporary artist living in Alexandria, VA. Growing up in the ‘80s and early ‘90s heavily influenced her unique use of color. With their bold neons, rich earth tones, and elegant pastels, these decades left their vibrant mark on her. She often uses color in bold and interesting ways, looking for the beauty in oddness.
Never one to shy away from difficulty, her approach to creating is rooted in watching her mother navigate demanding work, frequent moves, and countless obstacles with resilience and determination. Immersed in this lifestyle as a child instilled in her a belief that no task is too difficult to tackle.
She loves the challenge of working with fabric and how construction can often feel like a puzzle. Brown typically works in a series because she is always looking at what is next; can she change one aspect of a composition to look at the whole thing in a new way. This also allows her to refine figures, their spatial placement, and explore new color combinations.
Textiles provide her with another avenue of expression through the additional layer of quilting that goes beyond the composition itself. All of her quilts are composed of three layers stitched together, giving you another aspect to play with that is not present in other visual arts. Brown is always looking for ways to draw the viewer closer through color, texture, and the warmth inherent to textiles.
e bond
Guest Speaker
e bond is a designer + artist + writer + bookbinder & educator. Currently, she teaches workshops
& creates art for fabric collections by day, makes handmade books by night, hangs out with trees on
weekends and writes something close to poems in the spaces between. Under the studio name
roughdrAftbooks, she makes one-of-a-kind artists books, printed pieces and abstract drawings that
merge and blur the boundaries of art, craft, surface design, printmaking, and poetry. e holds a BFA in graphic design
and art history from Moore College of Art & Design and an MFA in Creative Writing and Book Art from
Mills College. Her work is held in library collections across the US and has been published in Printed
Matter Magazine, Uppercase Magazine, Berkeley Poetry Review, 500 Handmade Books, as well as
numerous books (about books). Most recently, e’s work has moved into the wonderful world of surface
design where she designs colorful, abstract fabric collections in collaboration with Free Spirit Fabrics.
You can learn more at ebondwork.com or on Instagram as @eisroughdraft.
Frequently asked questions
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Do I need to buy fabric each month?
No, you can use the fabrics and scraps you have on hand! I will also have bundles available in my shop.
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Can I cancel my membership at any time?
Of course! Both monthly and pay-in-full memberships can be canceled at any time.
If you cancel a monthly membership, you'll keep access until the end of your current billing period. If you purchased the pay-in-full option, refunds are prorated based on the monthly membership rate. (Processing fees are non-refundable.) -
How long will I have access to the content?
You'll have lifetime access to all of the content. If you cancel your membership, you'll continue to have access until your renewal date.
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Will I be making a quilt each month?!
You can make the block for each month, and if you love the technique, guidance will be provided for creating something larger or a finished product like larger quilts, pillows, zip pouches, bags and wall hangings.
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Will the Zoom sessions be recorded?
Yes! It will take about 24 hours to make the recordings available after each meet up
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Still have a question?
Email me at [email protected]
Zoom Schedule
All Zoom meetings will be recorded and available to view on-demand.
WEEKDAY meetings will be at 4-5 pm.
SEWDAY times vary (see below).
All times are in pacific standard time
OCTOBER 2026 MEETINGS
Thursday Oct 1st
Tuesday October 13th
SEWDAY Saturday October 17th, 10am-noon
NOVEMBER 2026 MEETINGS
Tuesday November 3rd
Thursday November 19th with guest Mindy Brown
SEWDAY Sunday November 22nd, 3-5 pm
DECEMBER 2026 MEETINGS
Thursday December 3rd
Tuesday December 15th with guest e bond
SEWDAY Saturday December 12th, 10am-noon
JANUARY 2027 MEETINGS
Tuesday Jan 5th with guest designer Latifah Saafir
Tuesday Jan 19th
SEWDAY Sunday, January 24th, 1-3 pm
FEBRUARY 2027 MEETINGS
Thursday February 4th
Monday February 15th with guest Susan Lapham
SEWDAY Saturday February 13th, 9-11 am
MARCH 2027 MEETINGS
Tuesday March 2nd
Tuesday March 30th
SEWDAY Saturday March 20th, noon-2pm
Thursday Oct 1st
Tuesday October 13th
SEWDAY Saturday October 17th, 10am-noon
NOVEMBER 2026 MEETINGS
Tuesday November 3rd
Thursday November 19th with guest Mindy Brown
SEWDAY Sunday November 22nd, 3-5 pm
DECEMBER 2026 MEETINGS
Thursday December 3rd
Tuesday December 15th with guest e bond
SEWDAY Saturday December 12th, 10am-noon
JANUARY 2027 MEETINGS
Tuesday Jan 5th with guest designer Latifah Saafir
Tuesday Jan 19th
SEWDAY Sunday, January 24th, 1-3 pm
FEBRUARY 2027 MEETINGS
Thursday February 4th
Monday February 15th with guest Susan Lapham
SEWDAY Saturday February 13th, 9-11 am
MARCH 2027 MEETINGS
Tuesday March 2nd
Tuesday March 30th
SEWDAY Saturday March 20th, noon-2pm
