Quilters Calendar & Guild Network

resources for quilt guild volunteers

Maryland

Michelle Umlauf

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Home: Sabillasville, Maryland.

Michelle Umlauf began her sewing career as a freelance National Educator for Sulky of America, Clover, and formerly Baby Lock.  She teaches at popular expos nationwide, in her local community and online.  Quilt guilds hold a special place in her heart because of the personal connections that are made during an event.

I have a quirky wit and coined my program brochure as “Spools & Tools”.  After all, that has been my area of expertise for nearly 15 years.  

Lately, the most popular program is “Spools & Tools for Quilters.”   Guilds members love notions.  I demonstrate how to use them and set up an area for you to handle them.  Plus, I bring eye candy for you to enjoy.  Members haven’t heard of some of the notions, can’t find them or have something, but don’t know how to use it!  As a lecture, you will enjoy learning all about the amazing notions that make the quilt making process easier, faster and more accurate without disrupting the enjoyment it gives you.  In a hands-on workshop, I bring my “School Box” filled with almost everything you need to make a couple small projects just for the fun of it.  I love watching you test driving the “spools and tools”,  and discovering what works for you and help you when it doesn’t.  Clover has a lot of wonderful sewing notions, and I’m prepared to tell you about many of them.  You will find that I tend to over-deliver because I am very passionate and enthusiastic about you, and giving you the best of me.

My experience has afforded me the opportunity to become well-versed in everything from hand embroidery to machine machine embroidery.  Recently, I have taken an interest in mixed media, art quilts sprinkled with a bit of hand embroidery. I contributed a piece of my work in the book Photo Memory Quilts by Lesley Riley.  

You can sign up for my newsletter and get to know me and discover UFO Friday, a monthly meeting I host online.

My husband and our fur family enjoy traveling across the country and camping, so no place is off-limits.

Website:  Sewing Machine Artistry

Instagram: Sewing Machine Artistry

Sign up to be a Sewing Friend

Email:  [Michelle] @ SewingMachineArtistry. com (remove brackets and spaces)

Please let Michelle know that you found her on The Quilters Calendar!

Toni Smith

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Home: London, Ontario, Canada and Crofton, Maryland, USA

Author of Designing Block Quilts: Design & Create your own Pixelated Patterns.

Toni has been selling her original Comic Book and Video Game quilts at conventions for years. Her pattern line of pixelated quilts teach the basics of quilting while teaching experienced quilters new techniques.

Her trunk shows show her journey to becoming the Pixel Quilter and her classes show how you can create your own unique pixelated masterpieces. You can find Toni Smith – The Pixel Quilter – on her website www.quiltoni.com

Please let Toni know you found her on The Quilter’s Calendar!

Heather Kojan

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Home: Owings Mill, Maryland

I’ve been sewing since my teens and quilting for more than 25 years.

My first quilt was an Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day. Since I had a king sized bed, it made sense to me to make a king sized quilt. Go big or go home, right? That quilt was in shades of mauve and dusty blue (hello mid ’80’s!) Let’s just say my fabric tastes have changed since then!

I consider myself a modern quilter, with traditional roots. I’m the founder of the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild and love speaking to different groups and sharing the modern aesthetic. I’m foremost a teacher. I teach modern quilting classes in local shops, guilds and shows across the country.

I’m a contributing author to the book Classic Modern Quilts and a featured quilter in The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood, and 50 Little Gifts published by Lucky Spool. You can frequently find my work in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Magazine and Modern Patchwork Magazine.

Let’s connect! You can find me on my blog: www.heatherkojan.com or on Instagram @heatherkojan.

Please let Heather know you found her on The Quilter’s Calendar!

Gyleen Fitzgerald

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Home: Churchville, Maryland

“I want children to be do-ers of life and not just watch-ers. I hope my writing inspires them to laugh and read out loud; one day it may lead to art and creative thinking.”

Fitzgerald was born in Philadelphia, PA but grew up in Taiwan and Japan. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering at Drexel University and opened Colourful Stitches in 1999. Its first subsidiary, FPI Publishing was launched in 2005 with the publication of her first two books. Its second subsidiary, Tools by Gyleen was launched in 2010 with the Pineapple Tool. In 2011, she obtained the Trademark for her Butterfly Seam.

Those formative years in the Far East developed her love for simplistic artistry. She began needlework at the very young age of 4 and has since pursued artistic expression in drawing and quilt making. Her quilts blend colour, pattern and texture to provide a contemporary essence to traditional quilting. Her strength as a quilter is demonstrated by the infusion of engineering tools and techniques to simplify visually complex quilts. Her writing life came much later; she started with technical reports, moved to technical instructions and finally got the courage to do creative organized thinking. Her written works center around Haiku poetry, Quilt project books, patterns and magazine articles and of course the crème de la crème, children’s books.

As an artist she has achieved “Best of Show” recognition; as a writer and publisher she has achieved award winning status with Quilts: Unfinished Stories with New Endings. Gyleen has appeared on The Quilt Show and Lifetime TV promoting finishing antique quilts and the new spirit of traditional quilting. Gyleen has an active social media presence on three Facebook group pages and in the Forum of The Quilt Show’s website.

For Gyleen, quilting is the passion which colours her world as her writing journey continues.

Visit Gyleen’s website.

Please let Gyleen know you found her on The Quilter’s Calendar!