Quilters Calendar & Guild Network

resources for quilt guild volunteers

Maryland

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!