Previous seminar & workshop instructors from
recent Original Creative Festivals:
Cynthia Guffey - Cynthia Guffey
Cynthia Guffey has been designing women's clothing and teaching sewing and fitting techniques for seventeen years. She owns an up-scale fabric store and custom dressmaking business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and her designs have been worn everywhere from the opening of the Met to Acapulco. Cynthia has developed effective, practical, and simple fitting and construction techniques that she teaches throughout the United States. Her sold-out sewing seminars are filled with information that result in beautifully fitted, custom-look clothing. Her sewing seminars receive rave reviews because, as one of America's best sewers, she shows you how to save time by getting it right the first time. By using her creativity and talents in designing, sewing and writing, Cynthia continues to inspire sewing enthusiasts around the world.
Kaye Wood - Kaye Wood, Inc.
Kaye is an award winning quilt engineer, an international teacher, author and TV Celebrity. She is known worldwide for her techniques in simplifying quilting. She is the TV host of Kaye's Quilting Friends.
Kaye likes to consider herself a quilt engineer because of the tools she has designed and the techniques she has created. Her tools and techniques have revolutionized the quilting world enabling anyone to make a quilt in a timely manner and with great accuracy. Since she started designing in 1979, Kaye has authored more than 20 books and created 9 quilting tools. Kaye Wood launched the KayeWoodTV.com website in January 2006. This amazing site has been visited by viewers in over 133 Countries! Currently http://www.kayewoodtv.com has over 36 programs for you to log on and watch anytime day or night...absolutely FREE! This is the perfect way for you to brush up on your sewing, quilting and crafting skills. There are programs for everyone at every level. This is a must check out site! Site Sponsored by Kaye Wood, Inc and Sulky of America! Kaye has also taught classes while cruising all over the world.
Connie Spurlock - Sew Wonderful Dreams
Connie is the owner and designer for “Sew Wonderful Dreams”, a pattern company in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She specializes in patterns for the quilter. With a background in marketing, and a heart for teaching, Connie travels throughout the United States sharing her tips & techniques on quilting, and appliqué
Kathy Ruddy - Unique Patterns-Kathy Ruddy
Active in the sewing industry since 1962, Kathy’s experience scans five decades as a pattern designer, Serger, and fitting expert, Inc., president of Live Guides Inc. and Vice president of Unique Patterns, a complete solution to successful custom–fit dressmaking patterns for sewing. Her specialty is to sew and serge fast and easy without sacrificing quality, fit or fashion detail.\
Cindy Losekamp / Sew Artfully Yours
Cindy Losekamp is a fun and enlightening teacher known for her incredible amount of samples and ingenious way of creating. She has written numerous books and patterns and created many beautiful embroidery design CD's. Cindy has been creating her entire life. She started learning at her Grandmother’s knee and then continued at singer sewing classes and in 4-H. Her love of sewing, crocheting, embroidering and painting is the driving force behind her company, Sew Artfully Yours. Cindy is constantly developing new and innovative ideas and techniques that encourage you to reach for the stars. She has become known for her ultra creative ideas and methods for using embroidery machines and the decorative stitches that most people never use. Cindy has been a guest on many of the popular TV shows and she has traveled extensively...nationally as well as internationally...teaching her methods of machine art to students of all ranges. You will enjoy learning from this exciting and empowering sewing personality.
Jerri McKee / Moonlight Design Quilts & Wearables, Inc
Jerri is a pattern designer and teacher, known for her boutique quality jacket patterns made from Sweatshirts. She chooses to use sweatshirts so that her customers don’t have to worry about sizing. Just use a sweatshirt that fits and change it into a wonderful work of wearable art. Her pattern company is called Moonlight Design Quilts & Wearables, Inc.
Currently Jerri has been on Kaye's Quilting Friends & America Quilts Creatively TV Shows, on Quilter's News Network, and this fall is scheduled to be on America Sews.
Please visit her website at www.moonlightdesignquilts.com.
Sherrill Lewis / Bead Ranch
Sherrill is an award-winning designer of bead-embellished items, bead-woven tapestries, distinctive beaded jewelry and artwork, and cloth dolls. She has been beading since the 1980s, becoming a professional in 1994.
A Bead Elf (pattern proofing and model making) for Suzanne Cooper in Second Looks and Far Away Places; and Valerie Hixson in Blooming Beads, her work has also appeared in Fire Mountain Gems' catalogs (1999, 2000), Beadwork magazine, and The Crafts Report (July 2003).
Since 2003, when she began following the quilt show circuit, Sherrill has spoken to and given short beading demonstrations at shows in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, and Louisiana; has taught workshops in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas; and upcoming classes in other states. A resident of Stillwater, OK, she teaches at Multi Arts Center, and at her home-based studio.
Sherrill is a member of the Colorado Quilting Council; National Quilting Association, Columbus, OH; Oklahoma State Quilters Organization; Crazy Quilt Society, Omaha, NE; Central Oklahoma Quilt Guild, Oklahoma City; Cimarron Valley Quilters Guild, Stillwater, OK; Edmond Quilters Guild, OK; Tulsa Dolling Dames, OK; Stillwater Art Guild, OK; Stillwater Writers' Group, OK; Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc.; and Friends of Multi Arts Center.
Londa Rohlfing / Londa's Creative Threads
Around central Illinois, "Londa" is synonymous with creative sewing. In 2003, with 13 years of running my fabric shop behind me, I switched to an internet-based business to go world-wide. My personal mission is to offer quality sewing products with passion, individual attention, and creative suggestions as a fellow avid seamstress, teacher and designer. Londa's Creative Threads is my comprehensive sewing website www.londas-sewing.com offering fabric, patterns and notions, wonderful embellishments of all types, ribbons, kai Scissors and almost ALL the Clover Notions.
After 40+ years of 'normal' (what I now call boring) garment sewing, MY mountain-top sewing experiences consist of artsy, creative sewing. Precious time stolen away for me...not to save money, not to just clothe a body, but to CREATE a garment that is unique and truly, truly One-Of-A-Kind. My current obsession is with transforming sweatshirts into wonderful, couture jackets - and at this time, I've created over 300 different jackets - fueling my own line of educational CD's, printed book, patterns, and DVD's around my unique sweatshirt jackets.
I love to travel and teach - doing so for guilds, shops, and many of the sewing expos around the country. I love this as I get to personally meet many of my customers.
I face the same challenge of many sewers today: when I'm at the computer...my sewing machine 'calls' to me, and when I'm at my sewing machine...I find myself running over to the computer! I LOVE to chat with customers in person, so feel most welcome to call me with your questions - about ANYTHING sewing!
Londa's Creative Threads - http://www.londas-sewing.com
BLOG: http://www.londascreativesewingchatter.blogspot.com
Gayle P. Ropp / The Backroom Quilter, L.L.C.
Gayle began her first quilt in 1981. Her special area of expertise is the quilting stitch and quilting design. She has done commission work for 12 years for both national and international clientele, and in 1997 was awarded the honor of quilting the National Symphony Orchestra raffle quilt for the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Some of the commissions that Gayle has done appear in two of Joen Wolfrom’s books, “PATCHWORK PERSUASION” and “THE VISUAL DANCE”, and in Jinny Beyer’s “SOFT-EDGE PIECING” and “DESIGNING TESSALLATIONS”. The cover quilt on the book “SILK QUILTS” was quilted by Gayle.
Carol Bledsoe - Alto's / Sew EZ Quilting, Inc.
Carol began sewing at an early age. She made mostly clothing and home dec items until she started quilting in 1994. She started taking quilting classes in 1995. From that point on she was hooked. Her mentor is her mom who is an avid quilter. She taught Carol that it's OK to think outside the box.
Carol worked in a quilt shop for two years. She started by working in the store helping customers with all their quilting needs. Later she worked in the store's office where she did some of the ordering and assisted with the day-to-day operation of the shop's two locations. She loves teaching a wide variety of quilting classes. Carol and her husband Alan enjoy traveling throughout the Western United States demonstrating Alto's QuiltCut2 Fabric Cutting System in quilt shops, at quilt shows and to area guilds. Carol appreciates that there is so much more time to piece quilts when the cutting takes a fraction of the time and is so accurate.
Lennie Honcoop / Dutch Quilter
Lennie Honcoop is a popular quilt teacher, host of retreats and cruises, quilt designer, and author. She has won numerous awards and honors for her quilts including having a quilt selected to hang in the office of California’s governor during Art Month in 2002. Lennie’s talent for design and color selection as shown in her quilt patterns was developed during her earlier years of teaching oil painting and drawing. Her designs make use of an exciting product from Japan – Hot Ribbon is a 1/8” wide fusible ribbon that can be used on any design to provide accent and depth.
Lennie’s business, “Dutch Quilter,” reflects her heritage – she was born in The Netherlands, where she lived until 1971 when she immigrated to the United States.
Melanie Coakley / Embroidery FX
Melanie Coakley is the President and owner of EmbroideryFX. She has over eighteen years of embroidery and digitizing experience. She is a writer for several trade magazines and a frequent speaker and educator for industry events. Her love of embroidery started as a home based business which quickly grew into a small business specializing in corporate logo and identity apparel. Her customers range from interior decorators, small business and corporate accounts to major league sports teams. She loves sharing her knowledge and passion for embroidery through enthusiastic and creative seminars. Join her for enhancing your embroidery experience!
Peggy Sagers - Silhouette Patterns by Peggy Sagers
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”.
Lyla Messinger - L.J. Designs
Lyla J. Messinger is an internationally recognized designer, author and speaker. She is President of L.J. Designs, Inc., a multi-faceted company including L.J. Designs, À La Mode and Eclectic Treasures pattern lines, Design Plus® notions and books. She also operates a subsidiary of L.J. Designs, Inc., TheSewingPlace.com , a website for fashion sewing enthusiasts.
Lyla retired from teaching to pursue her passion to promote fashion sewing by providing simple, stylish garment and accessory patterns, notions, education and inspiration to the sewing public. She continaully updates and builds her business with innovation, education, and integrity. With backgrounds in sewing factory work, fabric, machine and sewing school ownership, along with her public school education in Home economics and mathematics, Lyla has a well rounded background which serves her well in her diverse business.
She recently designed a line of zippers for Riri, a Swiss/Italian zipper manufacturer who produces zippers for high end designers like Gucci, Doonie and Burke, etc. These zippers are displayed at shows and available for immediate shipment from TheSewingPlace.com.
Lyla was recently selected as one of nine Charter ‘Master Certified Sewing Educators’ for SEA (Sewing Educator Alliance) which allows students to earn credit toward their SEA Teacher Certification while attending selected classes.
In mid 2007, Lyla is moving her business to a new space in Reno, Nevada , where all of the areas of her business will be under one roof. Plans for the near future include hosting retreats in Reno and expanding her product line. Sign up on the mailing lists on either or both of her web sites to keep up on the latest developments of L.J. Designs.
Barbara Willis / Barbara Willis Designs
Dolls have been in my life as long as I can remember in one form or another. I settled in on cloth dolls doll after a few seasons with porcelain and never looked back. I came from a creative family that sewed and decorated and painted and loved fabric. I have fond memories of haunting the fabric stores at a tender age with my grandmother and mother. My mother would pull the pieces of yellowed tissue from the pattern envelope and I would watch the ritual of laying out the cloth and the pinning and cutting and sewing and pressing. Treasured memories are what form us.
Cloth dolls are my passion and are an outflow of a lifetime of love for color and texture and form. Each doll as it is being created is part of me -part of a journey we take together.
I have been creating these treasures for many years now and have enjoyed the pleasure of teaching in many of our United States as well as internationally. I am on a life long quest to gather supplies and store and enjoy the use of. To lavish the dolls with whatever they seem to be asking for. To shop till I drop and spare no expense as each one calls for something of their own. Each day I am thankful for the creative process and the friends that are on the journey with me.
Cindy Walter
Cindy is an Author, Designer, Teacher, Co-hostess of Quilt Central TV show. Cindy was born in Iowa, into a family of quilters, where she was introduced to sewing and quilting at a very young age. She entered the quilting world professionally in the late 1980's by teaching timeless traditional quilting techniques at local quilt shops. In 1994, Cindy had the desire to “paint” on her quilts. Thus the birth of the contemporary technique, Snippet Sensations, (published November 1996). The technique was immediately successful and swept the country. In 1998, Snippet Sensations won the PRIMEDIA Award of Excellence as the best publication in the USA in the sewing/craft/quilting category. Her Latest TV appearances include: America Sews - PBS; Kaye Woods’ Quilting Friends - PBS; Sew Perfect - Home and Gardens; Simply Quilts - Home and Gardens; Home Matters - Discovery channel; and Quilt Central—PBS. Janie Donaldson and Cindy are the co-hostesses for Quilt Central shot in Paducah, Kentucky. Call your local PBS station for airing times. Lectures and Workshops include: International Quilt Market and Festival, HIA, Sew and Stitchery EXPO, International Quilt week ‘98 Yokohama Japan, New Zealand Quilt Symposium, Creativa Festival in Germany, Berlin Patchwork Symposium, Images 2000, Road to California, Quilt Colorado and numerous guild shows
elinor peace bailey / epbdolls
elinor peace bailey received her art education through Parson's School of Design, Tyler School of Fine Arts, and Brigham Young University. She has written Mother Plays With Dolls, The Rag Doll From Plain to Fancy, and recently, Two Doll Makers Meet In The Middle, publish by Krause. elinor has self-published 65 doll patterns and 7 books which cover doll making from the simple to the complex. She has illustrated books for Bernina of America and Fairfield Process, and has designed fabric for P & B Textiles, Daisy Kingdom, and Concord Fabrics. She has acted as consultant for Crafts Magazine, Prym Dritz Corp. (who has manufactured her dolls), Fairfield Processing, and Springs Mills.
elinor is a writer of not truly bad poetry, and she sings with great energy. She presently is experimenting with journaling and altered books, in addition to creating art to wear, which she shows off by wearing herself. She has enjoyed great kindness from her friends and audiences wherever she has gone and there fore, she plans to continue.
Nancy Goldsworthy / Nine Patch Quilting & Keri Designs
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Nancy has been sewing since she was a child. Her love of sewing took her to a career in apparel manufacturing. From leather gloves to leisure suits, Nancy has made them all. During her years in the industry, she went from the lowest operator on the line up to production engineer.
In 2001, after 30+ years in the industrial sewing industry, Nancy left her corporate job to follow her love of quilting. She set up her longarm machine and started up Nine Patch Quilting in the loft over her living room.
Now, as an award winning quilter and author, Nancy travels the country teaching and sharing her love of quilting. Look for her books: “Needles, and Threads and Bobbins”, “Oh My!, Flat or Fluffy?”, “A Beginners Guide to Battings”, and “The Quilter’s Guide to UFO’s” (Un Finished Objects), from Easymade Publishing. You can contact Nancy at www.ninepatchquilting.com.
Terry White / Taire Daire Designs
Terry has been designing and making needle work most of her natural born life. The decision to work entirely with the sewing machine was made by her body, not her mind. Her heart was sure that she could still make beautiful things with all the threads she had used by hand. By patient discovery with the sewing machine, she has been able to create new work reminiscent of her handwork. The results are in her gallery, classes and embroidery designs. Over the years Terry has published over 25 articles in magazines and books. She has produced four embroidery design discs for Viking Sewing Machine Company. Many more are on the drawing board. She has appeared on several sewing programs on TV.
Some of her works have won prizes and glory, for example: "Thar Be Dragons Here" won in the Sulky Challenge in 1999; "Wanna Play?" was featured in Quilting Arts Calendar in 2003; "Widow of Zarapeth" is traveling in the invitational exhibit "Women of Biblical Proportions"
Terry teaches classes across the country at quilt and sewing shows, guilds and shops. She has a series of videos that are clear and complete classes.
Frankie Seme / Fabric Photo Printing
Inspired by her home economics teacher to design and create her own prom dress at age 16, Frankie discovered her love for sewing.
Frankie pursued this passion by attending the Virginia Marti College of Fashion and Art in Lakewood, Ohio where she majored in fashion design. While attending Virginia Marti, her career doing custom bridal design work began to develop. Frankie's business grew into a successful retail operation over the last eleven years and is now known as Fashions by Frankie. Frankie has been featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Royalton Recorder for her sewing skills, design expertise and bridal gown knowledge.
The job she enjoys the most however, has always been to develop a sense of excitement in adults and children by teaching them the joys of creative sewing through new techniques. Over the years, Frankie has taught beginner sewing classes, serger classes, and advanced sewing classes for JoAnn Fabrics as well as her own retail business. Frankie continues to teach embroidery programs, technology events, creative quilting classes and sewing for all ages. You can see some of her projects published in the VDTA magazine, Pfaff Creative Magazine and 2003 Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Publication as well as the Sew Young So Fun and Pfaff USA websites.
Frankie is now co-authoring a book "Posterize It!" with well known technology expert Joe Hesch on the topic of poster quilts. Published by Martingale it will be out in the spring of 2007.
Jodi Barrows - Square in a Square
Jodi is a nationally known quilting teacher, speaker and writer. She currently lives in the North Texas area. Over the past twenty years Jodi, has remarkably touched thousands of quilters throughout the world with her unique method called Square in a Square®. Her point of view provides the quilter with the freedom to create most any quilt design with speed and accuracy.
Jodi has spoken to quilting audiences throughout the Untied States, Canada and Australia. She has appeared as a guest on several quilting shows, including TNN’s Aleene’s Creative Living; TNN’s Your Home Studio; Perfecting Patchwork on Family Net TV and PBS series with Kaye Wood. HGTV has shown her commercial on the quilting techniques she has developed on the Simply Quilts show.
The Square in a Square® system is a process that anyone can implement in most any design. Jodi has written fourteen books (ten of which have been on the best seller’s list), produced four tools, two video/DVD/s’ and five teacher’s books. Additionally, she has a pattern book and fabric line based on a fiction novel she wrote from the 1865 time period entitled “Leaving Riverton™”.
She also has a Certified Teacher’s Program in the United States and Canada. Jodi has had numerous quilts appear in McCall’s, The Quilter, Quick and Easy Quilt World, House of White Birches publications, Quilter’s Newsletter Top New Products and a Featured Teacher in the Traditional Quilter.
Jodi has been commissioned to compose quilts for many state and national organizations, as well as working with the Kansas Historical Society. She has been active in guilds as well as owning several crafting and sewing related businesses over the years. Jodi was raised in southwest Kansas, has 2 grown sons, and is married to Steve, her high school sweetheart.
RaeMarie Preston / Patterncentral
RaeMarie Preston, Married, mother of two teenage daughters. Recently purchased, Patterncentral, with her sister Karol Erickson. RaeMarie has been quilting for 25 years and have taught quilting at every age group, skill level, and many different quilt techniques for the last 16 years. She is now designing patterns for their company, where they design and produce iron on transfer patterns for quilting, embroidery, stitchery, and crafting. The Lord has really blessed us with such a fun "job”. Their office sits near Karol’s farm where dairy goats, horses, and chickens are daily inspiration for this family based business.
Linda McGehee / Ghee's
Linda has a diverse sewing background with 40 years experience from garments to handbags, piecing to heirloom, surface manipulation to combining a variety of methods into a sampler of various techniques. Linda has traveled the globe demonstrating and lecturing from her books and is much sought after at trade and machine conventions, consumer shows, guilds, shops, and television.
Linda is owner of Ghee's mail-order sewing and notions company. The most popular patterns are those designed by Linda for handbags with ready-to-wear handbag hardware. She has published several books on sewing; Texture with Textiles (winner in the sewing division of PCM's 1992 Product of Excellence Awards); More...Texture With Textiles (finalist for the same award in 1993); a Companion Project Book; and Spiraling Schemes and Chromatics (winner in the sewing book division of the 1997 Primedia Awards of Excellence). Her latest book is Simply Sensational Bags - How to stitch and embellish handbags, totes, and satchels.
Linda's vest patterns include: Linda's Vest, Shirt Tail Vest, and The Woven Vest. Each is a base pattern styled for further manipulation.
Linda has designed and created garments for the prestigious Fairfield Fashion Show, Statements, Capitol Imports, and Better Homes & Gardens. These garments are works of art combining many of the techniques from her books. On My Way to the Mardi Gras, from the Fairfield 1996-1997 show graced the front cover of Craft & Needlework Age Magazine, October, 1996. Check Linda's website at www.ghees.com
Elaine Waldschmitt / The Quilted Closet, Inc.
Pattern Designer; Fabric Designer; Quilting Teacher; Business Owner Elaine has been holding a needle and thread since she was 9 years old, when she took her first sewing class. In college, she stitched her first quilt as a gift for her sister, and began a love affair with quilting that has lasted almost 30 years. Even as a new quilter, Elaine taught in local quilt shops when she wasn't designing and producing her own award winning quilts, or pursuing her full-time career in health care. Soon marriage and motherhood were added to her busy life, but Elaine could not ignore her passion for quilting, designing and teaching.
In 1995, Elaine began The Quilted Closet™, a pattern line known for its spectacular designs, clear and simple instructions, and unique quilting techniques. Elaine and her company are known internationally through her pattern sales, magazine articles, guest television appearances, and numerous publications at both the trade and consumer levels. In 2000, Elaine began designing quilting fabrics. Her newest line, "From the Attic" by Andover Fabrics was introduced summer 2007. Elaine, her husband, and their 3 sons live in Johnston, Iowa. She travels extensively, promoting her company at shows, teaching and lecturing, and sharing her passion for quilting. Elaine's bubbly personality; paired with her sense of humor and vast knowledge of quilting, make her classes and lectures a truly wonderful learning and life experience for all.
Emma Seabrooke / SewkeysE, Inc
Emma Seabrooke is a certified Palmer/Pletsch pant and fit instructor. She trained with a French couturier for years and took many fashion design courses in college while obtaining her degree. She has been fashion sewing since the age of six, first for her dolls then for herself and others. Emma loves sewing with knits and has designed patterns for them. She has perfected the best styles for all sizes especially the well-endowed ladies. She travels and teaches from coast to coast and on TV. Emma is an active member of the Miami Chapter Board of the American Sewing Guild, and is a member of the Home Sewing Association. All her ladies can achieve clothing that looks and fits beautifully. She carries patterns, notions and fabrics that apply to her classes
Susan Schrempf / Victorian Venture
Susan teaches embellishment by machine across the country. She has been an educator for YLI Corp, Cactus Punch, EmbroideryArts, and is currently an educator for Ergonomic Advantage & Superior Threads. Susan is published in Sew News and Designs In Machine Embroidery magazines. Her new book is Simple Silk Ribbon Embroidery by Machine published by C & T.
Paula Schultz / Cottons, Etc.
Paula resides in Oneida, NY where she owns an independent, full service fabric store specializing in fashion and quilting fabrics, notions, books, patterns, and classes. Her first love is garment making, and she has a fondness for bright, bold colors and designs which are reflected in her wearable art garments.
Paula has taught clothing construction for over 30 years, and has owned a fabric store for the past 25 years. In this period of time she has seen trends come and go, and with the "quilting" craze, Paula joined the ranks, although she do not like to be called a quilter, and much prefers to use all those quilting techniques on garments. Since time is such a precious commodity for everyone, she does not like to waste time on producing wearable art pieces that aren't truly wearable. Paula is 4'11" and needs to tailor and quilt garments that are suitable for her frame and not have that "quilty" or board look that a lot of quilted clothing does have.
Paula’s garments have been juried into the following shows:
Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY "Quilts=Art=Quilts" 2000, 2002
American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY Fashion show 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 (3rd place amateur), 2005, 2006
Mid-Atlantic VVIII Wearable Art, Williamsburg VA 2002-2006 Honorable Mention, Judge's Choice
PA Quilt Extravaganza-Fall 2002-2nd place
Quilters Consortium of NYS -2006 2nd place
Old Forge Art Center Quilt Show, NY 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 first Place
Mohawk Valley Quilt Club 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 First Place, Best of Show
Pacific Int'l. Qlt. Festival XV-Oct. 2006 Best Use of Color
Machine Quilters Exposition, New Hampshire April 2007 3rd Place
Jennie Rayment / Jennie Rayment
Having had no previous interest in sewing, Jennie got hooked in the late 1980's, completely by accident. Rapidly, she became addicted and in her boundless enthusiasm wished to share her habit with others, so started teaching. She obtained her teaching diploma then taught Patchwork and Quilting to both recreational and City & Guild classes, eventually becoming an official verifier for C & G Creative Studies. Her work is exhibited in various galleries and at shows and exhibitions around the world; she has written many articles for both magazines and books and currently writes for two internationally known journals.
In 1994 she wrote 'Tucks Textures & Pleats', now a classic text on fabric manipulation techniques followed by 'Tucks and Textures Two', 'Tucked Up in Bed', 'Tinkering with Texture' and recently her latest inspirational book 'Creative Tucks and Textures for Quilts and Embroidery. All five books are about Jennie's intriguing, fascinating and innovative methods of fiddling with fabric and manipulating material. These techniques have proved to be very popular, as they are fast, fun and easy in addition to being suitable for all ages and levels of sewing ability. Most of the ideas are very easy to understand and simple to construct and can be used in quilts, hangings, bags, boxes, garments and soft furnishing.
Jennie has been affectionately nicknamed the "Calico Queen" in Britain or the "Muslin Mistress" in the U.S.A. as the majority of her work is made from this particular type of unbleached cotton material. Nowadays, she zaps around the world persuading people to 'Nip, Tuck, Twiddle and Fiddle' as well as manipulate and maneuvers bits of fabric shapes into fascinating and innovative designs and patterns.
Jennie has been affectionately nicknamed the "Calico Queen" in Britain or the "Muslin Mistress" in the U.S.A. as the majority of her work is made from this particular type of unbleached cotton material.
Luveta Nickels / The Junk Jeans People
Luveta lives near Clark, SD and is passionate about recycling blue jeans. She owns her own company called The Junk Jeans People and depends on family to help manage the operation. Luveta travels internationally and teaches easy, educational and fun filled classes. She has appeared many times on PBS TV and delights in meeting NEW students. Luveta loves sharing easy but professional techniques and is inspired by life on the farm.
Deborah Disney-Helmboldt / Out Of My Mind
Deborah Disney-Helmboldt has been sewing all her life. She was taught by her grandmother and mother as a child and later attended classes with several teachers. She has taught quilting and sewing classes to a wide variety of students for the past 10 years and has a teaching certificate in the Dewberry OneStitch™ Quilting technique. This method of quilting is “Twice the Fun, Half the Time” and works well with photos on fabric as well as preprinted fabric panels. Deborah has a strong passion to create and became involved in memory and “scrap booking” quilts. Quality is very important and that is the reason Deborah decided to become a distributor of ColorPlus Fabrics®. With two family weddings approaching, Deborah began testing every product available to make memory quilts for both couples. The ColorPlus® Fabrics were superior to all other tested products. Deborah has worked with Color Textiles to learn as much as possible about the product, printers and inks. She has made a variety of quilts and clothing using the ColorPlus® Fabrics with wonderful results, many of which she displays at retail shows and classes. Deborah demonstrates the ColorPlus® Fabrics at retail shows and teaches sewing and quilting classes using the ink jet fabrics as well as the Art-To-Sew fabrics from the Donna Dewberry line. Some of her projects and a list of products can be seen on her web site at www.outofmymindprints.com.
Polly Swanson / Silhouette Pattern
Polly is one of the first Silhouette Pattern Instructors Fitting For You (SPIFFY), completing her training with Peggy Sagers in 2005. After first learning sewing basics from her mom, Polly spread her wings to make her first independent garment when she designed and assembled the patchwork used to make a pair of pants in junior high. Continuing as an avid sewer who loves fashion, her interest in learning more led her to take her first lecture from Peggy Sagers. Polly felt inspired to take a full workshop later, and then the SPIFFY training. She holds Silhouette Patterns classes in the western Pennsylvania area, including Celebration of Quilts in Pittsburgh, PA, and has worked trade shows with Silhouette Patterns.
Kit Morse / Always Quilting
Kit Morse is a founding owner of Always Quilting, a premiere quilt shop in the bay area. She has over twenty years of quilting experience and is an award-winning quilter - having won many blue ribbons at Bay Area quilt shows. She is an excellent pattern designer, and her patterns have been featured in national magazines as well as local shows. She has significant expertise in computerized quilting and does much of her pattern design with electronic tools such as Electric Quilt 6. Her outstanding color sense and design balance have resulted in many beautiful quilt projects, and she truly enjoys sharing those skills with others!
Barbara Hartman / Design Citi
Barbara, proprietor and digitizer of Design Citi, strives for designs which can have the maximum ‘wow’ factor while still being relatively quick and easy to stitch. From garments to quilting, the extensive samples in her booth are meant to excite and inspire the home embroiderer. Her most recent article appears in the Nov/Dec 2005 issue of “Designs in Machine Embroidery.”
Barbara Hershey-Handler - The Quilt Handler
Barbara is one of the first certified Square in a Square instructors. Barbara earned her certification in September 2000 and has been doing trunk shows and teaching workshops almost non-stop since that time. She enjoys working with guilds, quilt shops and quilt and embroidery shows. One of her specialties is combining piecing with machine embroidery. Barbara has over twenty years of classroom experience and especially loves teaching this wonderful technique.
Lorraine Henry / Lorraine Henry for Conselle
Lorraine is a specialist in sewing, fitting and pattern alteration for Conselle Institute of Image Management. She has a degree in Clothing and Textiles and was a university instructor. With 30 years of experience as a custom dressmaker/tailor and teacher, she has a wealth of knowledge to share with you about sewing and fit. She has been called the "gentle giant of fitting" by her peers. She travels the country for Conselle teaching seminars on wardrobe planning and pattern alteration for our many figure variations. Her "Two Easy Tape Measure Set" has made a difference in mastering the art of fit.
Margot Silk Forrest / Sassy Feet!
Margot Silk Forrest is a writer, artisan, DIY shoe designer, and author of Sassy Feet: How to Paint, Bead, Bedeck and Embellish Your Shoes.. She has been fascinated with arts and crafts since she was a little kid stealing her mother's linen napkins and blisteringly red nail polish to make baby dolls.
Her first pair of embellished shoes appeared in Altered Couture, a glossy magazine showcasing one-of-a-kind, customized fashions and wearable art. Recently, three pairs of shoes she designed and embellished chosen for the prestigious international Wearable Expressions show.
Margot also designs custom shoes for clients, teaches classes in painting and embellishing shoes and purses, and creates custom-embellished shoes for brides, bridesmaids, and flower girls under the name Silk Forrest Bridal. Margot’s shoes can be seen at www.SassyFeet.com and www.SilkForrestBridal.com.
In addition to being an artisan and shoe designer, Margot is the author of three other books, including A Short Course in Kindness: A Little Book on the Importance of Love and the Relative Unimportance of Just About Everything Else.
Carol Coleman / Silhouette Patterns by Peggy
Carol started sewing as a 4-H member in North Carolina on a treadle sewing machine and has always enjoyed sewing, although she did not formally study home economics or clothing. In between other jobs has enjoyed teaching sewing (and heirloom sewing and smocking when her children were small) and working at various sewing stores in Wilmington and Dayton, Ohio. Since 2000 she has worked trade shows with Silhouette Patterns.
Deborah Justice / Labours Of Love Heirloom Sewing Supplies
Deborah Justice is an internationally known keynote speaker, video celebrity, author and founder of Labours of Love Heirloom Sewing Supplies. Deborah’s discriminating taste is reflected in her seminars and on her videos that show, step-by-step how easy it can be to make lovely things with easy, innovative techniques. Deborah's doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t sew and loves to sew pretty “girly” things, even though she’s the mother of two boys. She blends the romance and charm of the Victorian Era with the 21st Century through her presentations and is a favorite speaker and respected sewing expert nationwide.
Connie Webb / Sew Stitches Sewing School
Connie has enjoyed creating custom clothing, prototypes, and an assortment of other creations in the Truckee Meadows area for well over twenty years. Currently, she splits her time between custom home decorating worked and her other sewing duties. She also manages to squeeze in some teaching time at a local sewing shop. In addition, she has teamed up with business partner Day Warren to become a Certified Palmer/Pletsch, Beginning Sewing Instructor, and has opened Sew Stitches Sewing School. Well qualified to pass on the skill of sewing, she now aspires to share her knowledge and passion for sewing to others through “Sew Stitches Sewing School”.
Barbara Callahan - Barb Original's
Barb Callahan is a nationally designer, teacher and lecturer. She has designed and constructed one-of-a-kind garments, using her label, “Barb Originals,” for 25 years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in counseling. She is a Martha Pullen educator and a member of PACC and ASG. In addition to producing her own newsletter, Barb has recently become a contributing author for Threads magazine and Sew Beautiful magazine. Her classes are known for their high educational content as well as their laughter. www.barborginals.com
Cheryl Weiderspahn / Homestead Specialties Pattern Co.
Cheryl Weiderspahn is a respected award-winning seamstress, an accomplished designer and an entertaining teacher, speaker and author.
Her background includes 36 years experience of over 2,200 extensive custom orders from her successful home-based sewing business. Yet, Cheryl yearned to reach a wider range of women. Homestead Specialties Pattern Company was founded in 1996 from her drive to awaken the dormant creativity in sewers across the country. She now travels about once a month to teach, vend at sewing expos, and give programs and fashion shows of her innovative original designs. Her humor, enthusiasm and passion for sewing inspires all in attendance.
She has a versatile approach and her patterns are unlike others on the market. Cheryl’s philosophy of garment design is that if you spend your hard-earned money and precious time on a project, it should open up a world of wearing pleasure. Cheryl works hard to bring you designs with multiple wearing options without sacrificing style. Make just one garment, and then choose from dozens of different ways to wear it! She is widely known for her vest worn 48 ways. Imagine having a new look every time you go to your closet!
Sewing and quilting have been a part of Cheryl’s life as long as she can remember. Even as a toddler, she was sent to retrieve dropped needles and thimbles for her Mom and the other quilters at her hometown Methodist Church (when she wasn’t napping under the quilt frames). She even confesses to skipping school in Jr. High to stay home to sew! (Sorry, Mom!) By age 12 she was sewing for others for pay on a regular basis. Nine years of 4-H competitions further sharpened her skills.
Her original designs have been featured on the cover of Pfaff Club Magazine; in Lark Books and Krause Books; in Sew News, Sew Beautiful, Country Woman, Designs in Machine Embroidery, McCall’s Quilting, Craftrends, and Quick and Easy Crafts Magazines; and in Creative Machine and Total Embellishment Newsletters. Cheryl has also appeared as a guest or guest host on Kay’s Quilting Friends and Quilter’s Toolbox TV shows as well as Quilter’s News Network online. Her patterns have been carried by many distributors and in over 600 U.S. shops and in several foreign countries. They are also available at www.homesteadspecialties.com.
Kathie Alyce / Waterfall Quilts
Kathie Alyce is a contemporary, award-winning quilter from Central Vermont. She has been creating, designing, and teaching quilting for the past 15 years. She has received many awards for different pieces of her work at all levels of competition. These awards range from judges choice, peoples choice, and first through third place ribbons. Kathie is working on a series of landscape wallhangings. She is painting backgrounds and then creating machine worked trees. Kathie welcomes and enjoys commission work. All quilts are 100% cotton and the batting used is cotton or poly.
Tamara Kennison / Down Home Quilting
I am a pattern designer, hand dyed fabric creator and a teacher. With my introduction to the internet and exposure to all the wonderful quilt sites along with mystery quilts, my intrepid venture into quilting really blossomed. Before that I was self-taught through magazines and books from the library. I attended a couple of retreats as a student and I was a bit frustrated with just being handed a sheet of paper and basically left on my own.
I founded Down Home Quilting in 1999 when I held my first quilt retreat featuring my first pattern designed for Down Home Quilting: “Escape to the Stars”. Even though I was new to quilt teaching and most of my students were new to quilting and a couple have never even touched a sewing machine; I was hooked. I loved watching their expressions when they finished their project. My goal was and still is to create patterns with clear, concise step-by-step instructions and plenty of graphics to appeal to all types of learners.
Along the way, hand dyed fabrics were introduced and they were a big hit with quilters. I like to joke that this is the messy creative side of me. These beautiful hand dyed fabrics are 100% cotton and gradate from one color to another with a wonderful mottled appearance you can’t find in a solid. Due to the technique I use (and I have tried many!), my fabrics have a suede look to them. This often entices people to touch them. To answer the requests of many quilters, the pattern kits featuring the fabrics are being added.
This combination has led to a following of dedicated quilters nationwide. I take pride in designing patterns and hand dyed fabrics that are creative and innovative: sparking the imagination of the quilters who use them.
Sandra Betzina - Power Sewing
Sandra Betzina is a former host of HGTV's Sew Perfect. Sandra writes a syndicated sewing column called Power Sewing and has authored featured articles for Threads, Vogue Patterns, Sew Beautiful and Australian Stitches magazines. She currently designs a line of patterns called Today's Fit for Vogue and Butterick. She was inducted into the Sewing Hall of Fame in 2002 and voted teacher of the year. Sandra has written 10 books, 12 videos and 3 DVDs.
Home Teachers recent Expos Guilds Tips Links Exhibitor Info Sponsors News Contact Us
you can trust
