Quilters Calendar & Guild Network

resources for quilt guild volunteers

applique

Dawn Heese

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Home: Fayette, MO

Dawn Heese is an author, pattern designer, and Marcus fabric designer. She is a fourth-generation quilter and grew up stitching from a young age.

Her career in the quilting industry was launched with the publication of her first book, Geese in the Rose Garden, published by Kansas City Star.

The following year she started Linen Closet Designs, named for her grandmother’s linen closet filled with vintage quilts. Here she produces patterns for quilts, punch needle, cross stitch, and hooked projects as well as fabric.

Dawn’s work is regularly featured in magazines in the US and abroad. She teaches and presents trunk shows and workshops nationally and in France, sharing her love of applique and quilting

Dawn has several trunk show presentations and workshops to choose from including: Working with Wool and The French Connection.

Dawn’s ninth book was released in 2023. It is her third book with the French publisher, Quiltmania and is co-authored with Bonnie Sullivan. Dawn and Bonnie are co-creators of Made by Hand, a yearly membership dedicated to all things made by Hand. 

Click here to go to Dawn’s website- linenclosetdesigns.com

Click here to go to Dawn’s Facebook Page and view her videos- LinenClosetDesigns

Contact Dawn here- [dawne86] @ hotmail.com (remove brackets and spaces)

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

Sandy Fitzpatrick

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Home: Cary, North Carolina

Sandy Fitzpatrick of Hissyfitz Designs is an applique quilt pattern designer whose goal is to get as many of the quirky designs, that are spinning around in her head, down on paper for you to enjoy! 

Her fusible applique patterns are full of whimsy and will certainly bring a smile to your face.  Sandy strives to make her full-sized patterns easy to follow and fun to make.  Her classes, which focus on machine applique and free-motion quilting are equally fun. 

Having lived in many places as she and her husband moved around with the Air Force, Sandy currently lives in Cary, North Carolina. Her lectures and workshops are always an informative, fun experience. View her line of patterns and laser cut kits at www.HissyfitzDesigns.com

Sandy presents and teaches via Zoom! Here are some short descriptions, in her own words. For more workshop and presentation information, please visit Sandy’s website:

My most popular workshop is, “You Choose the Project”. Students are allowed to choose any of my applique designs for this fusible machine applique class. I also offer a Free-Motion Quilting workshop to help you reduce that pile of UFOs you have lying around in your sewing studio. 

Zoom Lectures:

My most popular lecture is, “Why Didn’t I Think of That?”  – Tips, tricks, and shortcuts to make your sewing and quilting easier and more enjoyable. How to sew a sleeve to your quilt quickly and easily, tricks to add dimension to your quilts, and organizational tips.

Free-Motion Fun and Facts – Ideas and inspiration to help you along the path of a wonderful, relaxing free-motion experience. How to set up your sewing area and taking the fear out of your quilting.

Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/HissyfitzDesigns

Instagram:  www.Instagram.com/hissyfitzdesigns

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

Joy Duke

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Home: Hampton, Virginia

Joy Duke is the designer of over 125 patterns for Joyous Appliqué Designs and the author of numerous articles for Quiltinghub.com as a quilting contessa. 

Joy specializes in applique patterns that are easy, fun, and nature-inspired that all quilters are capable of making.  Joy also likes to incorporate yo-yos in unusual ways in her applique pattern designs.  Her latest passion is bamboo felt applique which allows those that are allergic to wool, or that don’t have the budget for it, to create beautiful fun pieces of art. 

In addition to designing, teaching, and lecturing for guilds (both in-person and via ZOOM), she enjoys going to the beach and spending time with her family.  Sometimes she is even found stitching on the beach or around a competition swimming pool and meets the nicest people when stitching in public.  These interactions lead her to create one of her most popular lectures/trunk shows entitled “Stitching in Public”.

Lecture titles include:

(NEW in 2024) “How Do You Yo-Yo?” – This lecture and trunk show allows participants to see how yo-yos are made with a hands-on demonstration as well as a discussion on the various methods that some people use to make them. Then we explore the many ways that yo-yos can be used on our quilts, clothing, and around our homes in non-traditional and traditional ways as well as hearing another name for this familiar little gathered circle.

“Stitching in Public” – A fun trunk show where Joy shares the funny things and advice people have shared with her while she is stitching. 

“Making It Your Own” – A look at how we can take a pattern and make simple changes to personalize it either for the recipient or the maker.  It is meant to help quilters think about how they can use that pattern that they really like and “tweak it” a bit.  This was the way Joy got started designing her own patterns.

45 minute to 1 hour ZOOM lectures start at $250.  Please see Joy’s website for information on classes and lectures.

Website: www.JoyousAppliqueDesigns.com

Contact Joy at JoyousAppliqueDesigns @ cox.net [take out the spaces]

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

Bonnie Langenfeld

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Home: Minnesota & Florida

My dream was to become a painter, but I found that I couldn’t control the media the way I wanted, to create realistic images. Fortunately I had always been involved in sewing as well.

That led me to traditional quilting where I was frustrated by not being able to create my version of realism in fabric. This was in the 1990s when art quilting and a myriad of new tools and fabrics became available. The best ones for me were glues for fabrics, heavy stabilizers, and hand dyed or printed fabrics that allow my imagination to ‘see’ landscape elements in them.

At this time I also started playing with free motion stitching, and invented ways to add details to my landscapes with just two stitches.

My history includes having been shown in galleries, art shows, quilt shows, private commissions, making presentations and teaching (both virtually and live).

I feel very fortunate to have this second career as teacher, having taught primary students for many years, and now can teach my techniques anywhere. Currently I live in Cape Coral, FL in the winter and spend summers in Eden Prairie, MN, close to family!

Virtual Presentation: The Art of Realistic Fabric Art. In this 45-60 minute presentation, the essential art elements and techniques for realism are covered, e.g. using lines of perspective and use of color for depth. It explains much what I have developed over several years specifically regarding fabric choices and stitching techniques, as well as  how to construct a fabric picture, and much more. Many pictures of my in-progress work, and completed pieces are shown. It’s laced with humor and enthusiasm. Audience questions are welcome. A trunk show is included. $350. (March 2021)

Visit Her Website for more about Bonnie because it’s total eye candy looking at her quilts! She has a YouTube Channel here – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC996XR7m7EhW8Qx6gf8l13Q

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

Irene Blanck

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I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have been quilting for the last 30 years but only started designing since 2007. I have done all sorts of quilting but my love is needleturn applique.

I enjoy teaching classes in all aspects of needleturn applique and instilling in quilters the love for needleturn applique. I try and make my classes fun and stress-free. I like to think of my classes as “sit and sew” sessions – or “mini quilt-ins” – where we have a fun and relaxing day, chatting to friends as well as learning a new technique or perfecting on techniques.

In my classes I teach all the short-cuts which I’ve learnt over the years – mostly from making mistakes and doing things over and over again. I have been extremely fortunate to be able to teach in Australia, the US and Europe. Quiltmania published a book of my quilts in 2015 – titled “Focus on Applique” and I think this helped launch my international career.

I recently watched Irene do a trunk show via Zoom, then a demo on her clam shell hand applique techniques and she was wonderful.

She is very entertaining, her quilts are gorgeous and she clearly demonstrated and explained the entire process she uses, from start to finish, for her clam shell quilts.

She was actually onscreen for almost two hours, laughing and joking with us through it all. She even gave us a sneak peek of what she’s working on now, a 2021 applique BOM that is stunning. Book her soon, she’s an expert at live streaming and a wonderful teacher.

Marguerita McManus
Irene, demonstrating her clamshell technique.

Hire Irene soon before her schedule books up, your guild will love her! She’s very experienced at presenting virtually via Zoom and she’ll inspire you with her gorgeous quilts and easy to follow tips.~Marguerita

Download Irene’s Current Contact and Rates Info (2020) — [ddownload id=”17273″]

Visit Irene’s website for more info on her – https://focusonquilts.com.au/irene/

Be sure to tell Irene that you found her on The Quilters Calendar!

Barb Eikmeier

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Home: Lansing, Kansas

Barbara J. Eikmeier (Barb) has been quilting since 1984 and teaching quilting since 1990.

She is the author of four books, published by Martingale and Co, including “Back Basting Applique Step by Step”, has designed seven fabric collections for Paintbrush Studio Fabrics and is a Bluprint instructor (formerly Craftsy).

In 2016 she became the authorized distributor for the Magic Triangle Ruler. Married to a retired army officer, she has lived in several regions of the US and South Korea. Barb considers herself a traditional quilter and although appliqué is her favorite quilting technique she also offers programs on sashings, random block samplers, solids, and other traditional quilting techniques. She lives in Lansing, KS with her husband Dale and two dogs and is pleased to now offer all regular lectures as virtual programs.

Barb has announced a retirement date: November 2024. I saw Barb do a trunk show via Zoom on July 11, 2020 and she was MARVELOUS! Hire her fast before her calendar fills up! ~Marguerita

From Barb’s Trunk Show for The Applique Society in July 2020. Used with permission.

Find out more about Barb on her website and drool over her quilts at https://www.barbsfavorites.com/

Be sure to tell Barb that you found her on The Quilters Calendar!

Dianne Springer

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Home: Ruston, Louisiana

Dianne Springer first teaching job was to teach art to talented young students. She returned to school to earn her MFA in Studio Art and developed a national following as a glass beadmaker and jewelry designer. Then she discovered quilting.

In 2007 she started a company called Dianne Springer Designs to produce and sell her quilt and applique designs and her unique quilting projects. While traveling she was encouraged to write a book. She did and has designed a line for a major fabric company and then designed fabrics for her own fabric company.

She provides lectures and demonstrations at Quilt Shows, Quilt Guilds and Quilt Shops on a broad array of topics related to fabric arts. One reason for her teaching success and excellent reviews is that she has maintained a belief that makes almost all of her students comfortable and successful. And that is, “We all start out as beginners!”

She enjoys teaching specific techniques including appliques (especially her own designs), and any of her unique short-term, quick-success projects such as her “Quilt in a Clock,” “Quilt in a Clipboard,” and “Quilt on a Chair.” The best way to see what these are, and to get a sense of some of the things she can teach and has taught is to visit her website – www.diannespringerdesigns.com

She is available for classes, lectures, talks, demonstrations and trunk shows. She and her daughter/assistant Brandy love to travel and teach at shops, guilds and quilt shows.

Be sure to tell Dianne you found her on The Quilters Calendar!

Heidi Pridemore

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Home: Chandler, Arizona

Heidi was born and raised in Rochester, New York, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2000, Heidi began offering her services as a product designer to a number of fabric companies. She created her own line of quilt patterns beginning in 2002 and in 2004 Heidi started designing fabric in her own bright and whimsical style. By 2005 the work load warranted expanding to a partnership and The Whimsical Workshop, LLC was born with Heidi as the chief designer.

Heidi is known for her fun and whimsical quilts which she often makes in dramatic, bright colors. She also designs quilt patterns for a variety of popular quilting magazines. In addition she has written five books; Quilted Whimsy, Bold Batiks and Dazzling Designs for Leisure Arts, Pop Up Paper Structures for C&T Publishing and Fabric Jewelry-Wrapped, Braided and Sewn for F&W Media.

Heidi has been lecturing and teaching about being a designer for the fabric industry and about the 1000’s of quilts she as designed the various fabric companies over the years since 2002. Her classes cover the majority of the popular piecing and applique techniques available today, as well as classes on tools, color and design. She is also available for trade lectures for professionals wishing to design for the craft industry as well. 

Her workshops are tailored to your guild’s skill levels and techniques you desire to learn.

You can see some of the workshops offered at https://www.thewhimsicalworkshop.com/workshop.htm

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