Cincinnati Original Creative Festival
Cincinnati, OH June 28-30, 2012

TEACHERS

Irena Bluhm is an award winning quilter, instructor, pattern designer and author of eight books. Irena is also a national sales representative for Gammill Quilting Systems. With 19 years of garment making/design and 13 years of doing art for hobby, she has transitioned the experience in creating fine art and other skills into making quilts for shows and exhibits exclusively. Irena is very passionate about creating many different quilting design patterns, innovative ways of making show quality quilts, writing books and teaching. Her enthusiasm is very contagious as she loves to share, encourage and inspire other quilters to try something new that they never thought they would be able to do. After longarm quilting for just a little over one year, Irena started teaching longarm quilting nationwide in March 2006. Since then she has been teaching at many major venues. Irena is hoping that her encouraging nature, contagious enthusiasm for creating art and what she loves to do is going to inspire many others to try her techniques. Since she started entering her work into major national and international quilt contests in 2005, she developed a strong and lasting passion for this art form. Her work has won 56 awards in national and international quilt contests.
www.irenabluhmscreations.com

Barb Callahan
Barb's Originals

Barbara Crawford is a nationally recognized instructor and a leader in the pattern industry. Barbara teaches at guilds, quilt shops and expos. She has appeared on The Creative Living show on PBS and the PBS program It's Sew Easy. She is one of the leading experts in the US not just in Needle Felting but in creating jackets and coats using sweatshirts and wool rayon and has popular appliqué patterns. Because of her workshops she is now known across the country as "Queen of Nuno Felting", taking this Japanese technique and adding her own fun twists. Barbara has been a contributor in Sew News, SQE Professional, Quilt Magazine, and Designer Needle Felting: Contemporary Styles, Easy Techniques book from Larks Books. Barbara has her degree in Art, and is a member of the National Association of Professional Women . She offers classes and workshop in needle felting, head sculpting, nuno felting and practical sweatshirt transformations
In 2011 she launched a new pattern line as well as new classes and workshops on garment sewing with custom felted wool rayon, bias trims, fun zippers, and more using this wonderful fabric that takes the work out of sewing! Her workshops and seminars are not just educational, they're fun. You can call or email Barbara for classes, workshops and availability to come to your shops, guilds and expos. Website: www.crawforddesigns.net. Email : santa4u@sbcglobal.net .

Pam Damour is known as the Decorating Diva. She offers professional drapery workroom training to the trade. Co-author of “Pillow Talk,” Pam is generous in sharing the knowledge of her 29+ years as an interior designer and sewing professional. As a seasoned career speaker, she’s a member of SEA, ASG, and AQS. Pam travels internationally teaching her specialty techniques that have brought her years of continued business as the Couture of Home Dec Sewing. Host of her own web-TV show on sewontv.com “At Home With the Decorating Diva”, Pam is the producer of 13 how-to DVDs, a national spokesperson for the Warm Company, and Rowenta. Pam enjoys the hands-on aspect of the window treatment industry and has developed a 12-part template system to make custom window treatments that are taking the industry by storm! Pam’s new projects include a fabric collection and a new book called “Cheaper by the Dozen.” She lives on the shore of Lake Champlain in a log cabin, nestled at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains where she teaches sewing retreats and her teacher certification programs. Her down-to-earth nature combined with her professionalism creates a warm and creative experience.

Marilyn Doheny is a self made internationally famous, Contemporary Quilt Artist. She is a significantly published author having written over 30 books and patterns. Along with her specialty rulers, The 45 degree Kaleidoscope Wedge and her 9 Degree Circle Wedge Rulers she has transformed the world of quilting.

Marilyn's products sell worldwide, inspiring everyone with their ease of use and their unique visual drama!

Marilyn also lectures for quilting conferences and guilds, sharing her enthusiastic approach to life as a quilter. She is an infectious dynamo. When sharing time in her company, you will be challenged, delighted and inspired to achieve new heights with your own quilting endeavors.

Marilyn is both a fabric person and a people person. She is enchanted and delighted to play with color and geometry, designing patterns and inspiring others with their appeal. She calls her mind "the night crew" as the designs just come to her in the night! Then, during waking hours, she invents streamlined techniques - which every skill level can easily use. They are "silly simple" enough for anyone to follow - so that everyone can make her designs easily. The breadth of her work is amazing and the look of her innovative patterns has become her "signature".

She assures success for everyone who takes her classes or buys her quality books, patterns, and rulers.....It is Marilyn's weekly delight to receive letters and e-mails showing photos of proud quilters - around the world - standing beside their quilt, beaming with joy - and quite often featuring an award winning ribbon!

Pam Folberth has a long family history in the world of sewing and quilting. She travels for Janome as a national educator. She is the second generation to own Sew-EZY, a cozy unique quilt shop. Pam’s approach to sewing is upbeat and fun with a wealth of knowledge.

Judy Kessinger started her career owning and operating a small retail fabric store in Louisville, KY. She traveled nationwide holding seminars for Hancock Fabrics for over 25 years. She also designs and creates costumes for national and international figure skaters. With the encouragement of family and friends Judy started a sew business combining her art of teaching and fitting into the development and production of two patterns – one for Tops and one for Pants. Once you FIT the pattern, an entire wardrobe can be created. Sewing with just two patterns definitely takes the STRESS out of seamstress. She is known as the Fit Doctor, curing the ills of the sewing “blues.” Sewing is the easy part but it’s the FITTING that makes garments come alive and compliment the body – no matter the size – instead of just covering it! Her Web site is www.fitnicesystem.com and it has developed into another teaching tool for her “Sewing Sisters” to learn new and fun ways to use the two patterns. Judy has appeared on various TV shows showcasing her patterns and her methods of fitting. Judy has been blessed to have touched the lives of countless women, teaching them the tricks of looking and feeling fantastic by simply fitting themselves properly.

Cindy Losekamp has been sewing since she was three years old. Her Grandmother taught her there wasn’t anything she couldn't do and there was no such thing as no. When something needed to be sewn…Grandma could do it. Cindy has adopted that can do attitude…never taking no as the answer and always being able to find a new way to do things. With that in mind, Cindy pioneered creating hand look embroideries using the stitches from the sewing machine and then created the first “crocheted” pillowcase girls with 12 weight cotton thread and the sewing machine, moving into the embroidery world with the same kind of effects. Her creations are always thought to be vintage pieces until the truth is told and then the amazement sets in. No one thinks they are made with a machine. Besides creating the vintage look, she has created many beautiful landscapes with fiber and thread, a line of sweatshirt modifications in books, patterns and CD’s and written over fifty books, patterns and other publications.

Cindy is a fun and enlightening teacher known for her incredible amount of samples and ingenious way of creating. She has been a guest on many of the PBS sewing shows like "America Sews" and "America Quilts Creatively" and she has traveled extensively...nationally as well as internationally...teaching her methods of machine art to students of all ranges. Cindy has loved being on the cutting edge of the creative side of sewing. She has been teaching for over 25 years and her students love her patient and understandable style. Cindy is president of her own company, Sew Artfully Yours, Inc. which she began in 1998. You will enjoy learning from this exciting and empowering sewing personality.

Linda McGehee
Designer Linda McGehee is known worldwide for her award winning books, patterns, and spectacular fabric manipulating techniques. 2010 marks the 30 Year Anniversary of her business, Ghee's, a mail order sewing company specializing in her books, patterns, embroidery designs and related threads, fabrics and sewing notions. Linda's methods of texturing and customizing fabrics to create unique surface textures and designs keep her constantly traveling to lecture at trade and consumer conventions, guilds, shops and on television. Her book, Creating Texture with Textiles, published by Krause, shows many of her creations from the prestigious Fairfield Fashion Show, Bernina Fashion Show, Statements, Capitol Imports and Better Homes & Gardens. Her handbag and vest patterns are a palette to showcase these machine embellishments. Linda created 3-D designs for the embroidery machine through Cactus Punch. Floral Dimensions and Floral Dimensions 2 make flowers come alive using various types of threads. Simply Sensational BAGS, How to Stitch and Embellish Handbags, Totes, and Satchels, offers numerous sensible and practical ideas to personalize bags to fit each personality. Whether for fun or organization, the bag is the perfect base to showcase embellishment techniques. The Perfect BAG, is Linda's third book with Krause.

Cathy Robbins. Learning to crochet when she was just a child, Cathy Robbins loves to share her passion with others. In addition to teaching friends and neighbors, she is the crochet instructor at the JoAnn Fabric & Craft store in Mason, Ohio, where she teaches everything from basic skills to advanced techniques. An active member of the Southwest Ohio Crochet Guild, Cathy enjoys creating new designs as she explores the unlimited possibilities crochet has to offer. You can contact her at RobbinsNestOriginals@cinci.rr.com. She loves to hear from fellow crochet enthusiasts or anyone with questions.

Peggy Sagers holds a degree in Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising from Brigham Young University. Peggy spends her time teaching at seminars in the United States and Canada and recently featured as a guest on HGTV, she brings no frills to the home sewing world. She professionally drafts patterns doing free lance for numerous manufactures in the Dallas area. Recently, she started creating her own pattern line called "Silhouettes". Her designs incorporate B,C, and D cup sizing as well as proportionate lengths, which is unique in the pattern industry. In addition to apparel designs, Peggy has designed the patterns of the costumes worn by the 1994 Men's Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medallist, Elvis Stojko. Recently she has been a guest on the popular HGTV show, "Sew Much More".