Aby is a native of Culpeper, Virginia, and learned various needle crafts from her mother, grandmothers, and Sewing 4-H club. As a young girl, she remembers sitting on my grandmother’s shady back steps hand piecing Four Patches in the summertime. (The basketful of Four Patches with huge running stitches is her longest running UFO!) In 1976 when the U.S.A. celebrated its bicentennial, there was a resurgence of interest in colonial crafts. That’s when the quilting bug bit Aby! Aby Dolinger creates classic quilts from Layer Cakes, precut 10” squares available from Moda Fabrics. She also designs patterns and Moda distributes her patterns. She has found working with Moda fabrics to be a great opportunity that continues to spark her creativity. Aby is married to an Army chaplain so has moved every three years throughout his military career. She has become an expert at packing and at keeping her stash of fabrics and supplies under control. She uses the Internet to keep in touch with friends worldwide and is a member of The American Samplers that has an annual meeting at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival each year. Lecture: Fast Cutting Techniques (Friday morning) Class: Get the Point (6 hours — Friday afternoon and …

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Susan Edmonson is an award-winning quilt maker who started this journey in 1981 and today continues to wow her audiences with her unique artistry. She has designed quilt patterns and kits for two national stores as well as her own pattern line. Her specialties have been folk art, crazy quilted purses and wall quilts, and “flower doodles.” Fabric collage books and mini art quilts are among her newest creations using mixed media techniques. All of her work is lavished with beading and embroidery. She loves working with vintage style fabrics and colors. The patterns she designs have evolved from original pieces inspired from vintage quilt designs and nature that showcase her own unique style. She is a native of Charlotte, NC and now lives in Concord, NC. Lecture: All about binding. Friday afternoon Class: Endless Hand Embroidery for your Quilter’s Toolbox (3 hours – Friday morning) This is the class to learn how to add embellishment/Hand Embroidery to any and all your quilts no matter how large or small they may be! Susan is passionate about hand embroidery! She will walk you through many stitches from very simple to textural 3-D stitches! This class is to teach you ways to increase …

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For Gail, quilting began as a whim, when friends convinced her to take a hand-quilting class. Quiltmaking quickly became a passion. Gail’s early quilts are traditional with conservative fabric choices. By 1984, she began exploring original design. Bold, colorful, and stunning geometric designs with flying geese galore – that’s how you know you’re looking at one of Gail’s quilts! Her style has become immediately recognizable because of her talent for combining vivid colors with intricate piecework. Her geometric star quilts and pictorial quilts have won awards at shows throughout the U.S. and have been featured in publications worldwide. Students love her ability to make these designs achievable even for novice quilt designers. She is also Executive Director of Hawks Aloft, a New Mexico conservation organization. Lecture: Quiltmakers and Their Influences on our Lives (Sunday morning) Class: Scrumptious Star Stitchery (6 hours – Friday all day) This class is especially tailored for the novice paper foundation-piecer. Working with one of Gail’s designs, learn the ins and outs of this fascinating technique that enables the student to stitch very complex designs with ease and best of all, accuracy. The pattern fee includes both the 30.5″ octagon and the 39″ square. $15 pattern fee A fabric …

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Sewing, quilting, knitting & fiber arts in general have been in Jane’s life since she was very young. She loves to do all of them, but also loves to teach and encourage others to give them a try or to help them in their craft. Jane chose her name as a building block for company name, Plain Jane Threads. Threads can be ready made garments, something to help you make your own design, to repair, or, in her case, what is almost always left on something she’s made. Those threads are a part of her and what she put into what she makes. The Plain, to her, is something simple, foundational that can be built on or added to, to make it your own. In starting Plain Jane Threads Jane hopes to encourage people to turn whatever they are buying or making into something truly their own. She also provides finished items and the supplies needed to make your creation your own. Jane is from Charlotte, NC. Class: Foundation-less Paper Piecing: New York Beauty (6 hours – Friday all day) A different take on foundation paper piecing. Create accurate points, arcs and seams. No more pulling off paper. Reusable patterns pieces and accuracy! New York Beauty and …

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Artist, author of  No Sewing Until You Quilt It, and inventor of Ann’s Magic Buttons.  Ann has worked in stained glass since 1976. When she moved to Asheville in 1998 and became involved with the local quilt guild. Ann had a desire to recreate some of her original glass designs into fabric, without the lead line look of stained glass quilts. As a stained glass artist she would build a window on top of a drawing. Ann experimented with building her quilts on a see-thru French Fuse” foundation, and turning the edges with glue stick. Then in 2005, foot surgery forced her to think of a quicker way to finish her project for the Asheville Quilt Show. She asked herself, “Why am I sewing this twice?” first for stitching the top and then second for quilting.  No Sewing Until You Quilt It – French Fuse Appliqué is the result. This is a turned edge technique, it is easy and fun to do, it saves time, and you can edit your work without ripping out seams.  Website: Anne Holmes Studios Lecture: No Sewing Until You Quilt It! (Sunday morning) Ann will introduce her method and the special tools she uses to “make …

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Debora Konchinsky is the owner and designer for Critter Pattern Works. She graduated with a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Fabric Design from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1966. In 25 years, her style and interests have changed from basic cotton appliques where the animals are one color, to working with wool and felting wool fibers into her appliques to make her critters look 3-D. Some of them even have ears and tails and wings that dangle off her quilts. She has always specialized in realistic animal-themed patterns of machine appliqué. These patterns can be used to make finished projects ranging from a hot pad to full sized bed quilt or clothing. She wants to help you think more creatively. During the four years she spent in college, she learned that creative thinking starts with one question: “What if…?” Before you can be creative, you need to learn the basics of applique. Debora figured that videos are the easiest way to learn, and she made step by step free videos for you…seriously, Debora wore all the hats: the writer, producer, camera woman, editor and the star for the videos. As a side-note, Debora and her husband are also vending …

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Roxane Lessa began her professional life as a ballet dancer, and has danced and taught all over the country. After her dance career ended, she decided to pursue her other passions: fabric and design. Her first design teacher was her mother, who brought her to many art museums and the decorators’ building in Boston, to choose fabric samples for her clients. Later, Roxane pursued a degree in Costume Design and Textiles, and has made one-of-a-kind art wear for clients. After relocating to Raleigh, N.C. with her family in 1997, Roxane took her first quilting class and was instantly hooked. She has shown her work at the prestigious International Quilt Festival in Houston, the World Quilt and Textile Exhibition, and the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. Currently, she is teaching fiber arts here in North Carolina at quilt guilds, and privately at her home studio. She is known as The Art Quilter’s Coach, having created her own private art quilting program for serious art quilters. Class: Photo-Pattern-Quilt! – (cancelled) (6 hours – Friday) How do you translate all those wonderful photos you have into the art quilts you love? In this fast moving class, you will learn easy ways to make a pattern from …

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Author, teacher and fabric designer Nancy Mahoney has enjoyed making quilts for over 25 years, during which time many of her quilts have been featured in books and both national and international quilt magazines. She has created over 100 quilt patterns and always has more books and patterns in the works. She has designed 15 fabric collections for P&B Textiles and Clothworks. Nancy believes making a quilt should be fun. She wants students in her classes to have a good time, learn something new, and make a quilt they will enjoy for many years. Website: www.nancymahoney.com Lecture: Mastering Color Friday afternoon Are you are trapped in a rut of always using the same colors? Do you want a better understanding of how to choose colors for any style of quilt? Color choices don’t have to be intuitive or instinctive-there is a practical way to choose color for quilts. In this presentation, you’ll find useful techniques and guidelines for making the perfect color choices for any quilt. Take the guesswork out of putting colors together and see innovative ideas for fresh color combinations Class: Twisted Triangles (3 hours – Friday morning) In this fun class, you’ll learn 10 different ways to make …

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Nicole Neblett is the mama behind Mama Love Quilts. If you love modern quilts, bold colors and graphic designs, then you’ll feel right at home at Mama Love Quilts. If you’ve always wanted to make modern quilts or if you’re already a modern quilter looking for fresh inspiration and new ideas, then Nicole can help you get started or expand your ideas. In 2012, Nicole started Mama Love Quilts to create a community of people who love modern quilting and who want to learn more about designing and creating modern quilts. She believes that we can all design and create quilts that we love. When we ask, “What if?” we start to wonder about the possibilities. As we explore new techniques, we take the first step to create something that will be cherished for years to come. Lecture: Becoming a Modern Quilter (Saturday morning) Nicole’s lecture is an entertaining look at modern quilting and what that means. She demonstrates the points with a trunk show of her work. Class: How to Make an Improvisational Quilt (6 hours – Friday) No patterns? No templates? No problem! In this workshop, you will practice free-piecing techniques used to make modern improvisational quilts. As we practice …

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Originally from Darby, PA, a small town outside of Philadelphia, Stephanie moved around the US, Canada, and the Caribbean before arriving in NC in 1977. If she is not quilting, then she is either reading a book, or traveling somewhere. Her main quilting focus, is piecing, especially curved piecing. Recently, she began to incorporate embroidery into piecing, either as the main focus or as a quilting element. Class: Machine Quilting – (cancelled) (6 hours – Friday) Stephanie will guide the class in preparing the quilt for machine quilting, and basic quilting skills. While particularly focused on beginners, more experienced quilters will also pick up skills to improve their quilting. Images are examples only, not class projects Materials and Supplies Sewing Machine in good working order Walking Foot Free Motion or darning foot Various colors of thread Quilt sandwich (5”-6”)- muslin so you can see your stitches Marking tools (chalk, pencil etc.) Needles size 75-80 Scissors Class: Machine Embroidery (6 hours – Saturday) Many of us have purchased sewing machines with machine embroidery capability. Few of us use this often enough to become proficient. This course will build skills in using machine embroidery so that students feel more confident to take on …

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Judy always had the desire to create and was surrounded by people who fostered her creative outlets. She loved fabric and this love led to a degree in Home Economics and a career in teaching. Over the years, Judy’s artistic journey has led her from seamstress to teacher to fiber artist. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, featured in books and magazines and held in public and private collections. She is the author of two books. Judy creates her art quilts through a variety of techniques including layering, digital imagery and stitch. She starts with white and working with dyes will incorporate a number of processes including image transfers, screening, dye and paint to bring the fabric to life. Website: Judy Simmons – Fiber Artist Lecture: Creative Inkjet Printing on Fabric (Saturday morning) Have you ever been curious how to transfer photos to fabric and THEN… what to do with them? This lecture will cover everything you need and want to know for transferring photos to fabric, creative ways to use photos and digital imagery, creating fabric from imagery for piecing and incorporating other fabrics from your stash. Class: Layered Naturescapes (6 hours – Friday) Students will start a …

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Spoonflower was founded in May 2008 by two Internet geeks, Gart Davis and Stephen Fraser, whose creative wives asked why there wasn’t anywhere to design custom fabric for their home décor. The first company of its kind, Spoonflower was launched in Durham, N.C., on that dream of empowering the individual to create on-demand, custom-designed textiles. Eight years later, the Spoonflower community has grown to over 3.5 million individuals who use their own designs and our Marketplace to make curtains, quilts, clothes, bags, furniture, dolls, pillows, framed artwork, costumes, banners and much, much more. Spoonflower’s digital print process uses eco-friendly, water-based pigment inks and dyes which produce very little waste. And with over 350,000 designs, the Spoonflower Marketplace is the largest collection of independent designers in the world. Lecture: Our History – Making Fabric You Design (Sunday morning) Learn how this local company has grown and flourished. Spoonflower works with local designers and crafters, allowing them to create their own fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap.

Laura is a textile artist, author, teacher and creator of hand dyed fabrics and threads. She has an undergraduate degree in Costuming from the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota and a Master of Art degree in Fiber from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. She is the owner of Artfabrik. Laura combines vivid fabrics and whimsical stories to make pictorial art quilts. Each wall piece is one of her unique designs, with fused applique and machine quilting. Quilting lets her work and play at the same time. Special Note: Laura Wasilowski is our featured speaker on Friday evening. All registrants are invited and encouraged to attend. You do not need to sign up for this special lecture. Class: Zen Doodle Quilts (6 hours – Friday) Explore the mesmerizing world of Zen Doodling and design an original art quilt at the same time. You’ll soon discover how easy it is to doodle like a Zen master and learn how to convert that drawing into a pattern for your quilt. With an easy pattern transfer process for fused fabric, your drawing quickly becomes a fused art quilt. New fusing tips and tricks are presented to enhance your Zen doodle design. Drawing paper …

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Amy Stewart Winsor is a quilt artist, instructor, and author from Apex, North Carolina who doesn’t measure, doesn’t make templates, avoids matching corners, never plans ahead, and usually fudges the rules. Her workshops are especially directed toward Precision-Impaired Quilters like herself. Her first book, Frazzled Fancies Quilts, and first pattern, Good Neighbors, were published December 2014, and are now available on her Etsy shop. She teaches nationally, and enthusiastically encourages her students to find the techniques they enjoy most, and to spend their quilting time frolicking in the fabric instead of stressing out. Lecture: Fixing Mistakes Creatively (Saturday Afternoon) Some people say there are no such things as mistakes, they are just “design opportunities”. In this lecture Amy will show examples of quilts which were going wrong, and how they were rescued. Some of the techniques which will be covered: Covering up mistakes with applique Cutting off mistakes and adding new additions Using left over blocks in a new quilt Splitting an ugly top and adding strips Embellishing to distract from mistakes Using tulle (bridal veil netting) to change colors or cover seams And many, many more! Class: Crooked Log Cabin for the Precision-Impaired – (cancelled) (6 hours – Friday) This is a …

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Kevin is a textile artist living in Lynchburg, Virginia. While majoring in the sciences at James Madison University, he satisfied his strong interest in the arts by including several elective art courses as part of his studies. Kevin earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and went to work in the IT field. He continued his artist pursuits, exploring photography, metals/jewelry, pottery and oil painting in community art classes. In 1986, Kevin was introduced to quilting by his maternal grandmother. Having always loved the legacy of family quilts, he decided to have her teach him the tradition. While his interest in other media has waned, his passion for fiber has endured. Over the years, Kevin studied with many accomplished textile artists and developed a love for hand dyeing and patterning fabrics with surface design techniques. His experiments produce a line of unique fabrics and clothing that he exhibits and sells. Lecture: Threads and Embellishments Sunday morning An introduction to using decorative threads and fun embellishments for your quilts. A sampling of the topics covered include machine embroidery, bobbin work, couching, thread play, cutwork using Solvy, foiling, paint sticks and making your own “fabric” with threads. Class: Soy Wax Batik — Class …

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Southwind Designs features original designs and patterns by Annette Ornelas, a German-born quilt artist, teacher and designer. Annette lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Southwind Designs, which began in 2000, was developed to offer students unique quilting patterns that were easy, fun and could be done by any level of quilter. Owner Annette Ornelas wanted to teach quilting in a way that would put her students at ease in a relaxed atmosphere and provide a new spin on traditional patterns and quilts. Since then, Annette has produced eighty patterns and two books one of which, Peeled-Back Patchwork: Curves without Piecing, was published through AQS in 2004. She also developed the Dimensional Curves technique to simplify the process of piecing curved quilt-block shapes for her students. In the last five years Southwind Designs has produced quilt patterns for Timeless Treasures Fabrics. Lecture: Dimensional Curved Piecing or Peeled-Back Patchwork – (cancelled) Friday morning The lecture will transport you into another quilting dimension. Annette will bring numerous quilts and samples so everyone can see how it actually works. Class: Turtle Tots – (cancelled) (6 hours – Friday afternoon and Saturday morning) The Turtle Tots pattern features 10.5″ turtle blocks, which are used to make a …

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Becka is both an artist and a teacher who hails from Minneapolis Minnesota. Her primary work is designing fabric with engineered and manipulated photographic prints. She uses these prints to make one-of-a-kind wearable art garments, accessories and the occasional home dec or wall art piece. One of the traditions of fiber art that inspired her was the idea of making practical and everyday things be beautiful as well as functional. In 2015, her first book was published, The Spoonflower Handbook. Becka worked with co-authors Stephen Fraser and Judi Ketteler to create the ultimate handbook to all things fabric design, Spoonflower-style. She was the tech guru for the book, putting together all the step-by-step instructions, screenshots and so on. It was a huge project and one of which she is really proud. You can find her at Spoonflower under the username beckarahn. Becka will be teaching the Spoonflower design method at Symposium! This is a first and a great opportunity for you. Website: Becka’s Project Journal Class: Design a Fabric! – (both cancelled) (2 sessions 6 hours each – all day Friday or Saturday) In this class, Becka will instruct on the Spoonflower method, assist students in designing their own fabric on their laptops, …

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Wendy’s interest for quilts was born out of her love for early and colonial American history. Being from Southeast Asia, she had not had much exposure to quilts due to the fact that quilts are mainly a Western “thing”. Through reading, she became aware of and loved the look of the Baltimore quilts, but still didn’t catch the quilting bug mainly because she didn’t know how to sew. After being repeatedly encouraged by a friend, Wendy decided to give quilting a try years later. Little did she know how much she would enjoy making her first quilt, and before she knew it, she was making her second, third, fourth, and fifth quilts! Wendy’s work is frequently featured in Quilting magazines and publications. She designs quilting patterns, teaches machine quilting at all levels, and has 2 lines of Aurifil threads, Subtle Strings and Marmalade Meadows. Blog: Ivory Spring Lecture: My Two Cents on Free Motion Quilting – (cancelled) Saturday afternoon In this lecture and trunk show, Wendy will share her quilts quilted on her domestic machine as well as tips. She will share a PowerPoint of different principles in how she decides what to quilt on her quilts. Class: One Block in …

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Karen West has been teaching at a local quilt shop and has her own pattern company For the Love of Fabric. She designed the quilt shop’s row-by-row offering for 2016 and does commission work as well. Karen says of her designing: “My goal as a designer is to create clear instructions for quilts and other fun things to make with all the great fabrics on the market. After all, most of us sew or quilt because we love fabric.” Karen also makes amazing pet portraits. Class: Design Your Room – (cancelled) (6 hours – Friday) In this class, students will use some Spoonflower furniture pieces and Karen’s expert guidance to create their own room. Pieces will be appliqued with fusible techniques. Materials and Supplies Kit fee $8 payable to the instructor day of class (cash, check or charge) ¾ yard of Wonder Under Fusible web 14” x 20” cotton batting 14” x 20” Peltex 71 or 72 (heavy single or double-sided fusible interfacing) 14” x 20” white-on-white fabric for “wallpaper” 14” x 20” print fabric for quilt backing 4” x 20” tone-on-tone fabric for “carpet” ¼ yard of a narrow stripe or other fabric for binding ½ yard of narrow ribbon …

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