Belle Brunner began quilting in her mid-40's at the onset of the pandemic of 2020 and quickly fell in love with the craft. In 2021, after taking an intensive pattern writing course, she began designing and publishing patterns. She focuses on confident beginner patterns and techniques and believes that all people, of any age, can learn to quilt. Having spent years helping non-profits and boards of directors, Belle expanded her Seams Sew Me business to also specialize in providing leadership, governance, consulting and education for quilt guilds’ boards of directors. She believes that strong inclusive guilds contribute to strong communities. She leads and teaches with her two leading values: of compassion and understanding.

Lynn Contri is a certified AQS textile appraiser. She is a member of the Professional Association of Appraisers - Quilted Textiles (PAAQT) as well as several other quilt study groups. She is a quilt teacher, collector, maker, historian, and does restoration and repair to quilts. She learned to sew and do many types of hand work since the age of 10. Lynn learned to quilt 20 years ago and has never stopped. She loves to share her knowledge with others.
Lynn was born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois. Lynn and her husband, love to travel in their motorhome. Lynn and her husband have 3 beautiful daughters, 3 granddaughters, and a Schnauzer that loves to travel with them. See more at lynncontri.com.

Gyleen X. Fitzgerald makes quilts that blend color, pattern, and texture to provide a contemporary essence in traditional quilting. She infuses engineering tools and innovative techniques to simplify visually complex geometric polygon quilts. An avid quilter, Gyleen has earned several Best of Show honors. As an author and publisher, she is a consistent Gold Medal winner, including Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles: Path to Modern Quilts. She is best known for inspiring Trash to Treasure Pineapple Quilts and the creation of the Pineapple Tool by Gyleen. For more information, visit colourfulstitches.com.

Bold, colorful geometric designs with flying geese galore characterize the quilts of Gail Garber. Her style is immediately recognizable because of her talent for combining vivid colors with intricate piecework. Her quilts have won awards at shows throughout the U.S. and have been featured in publications worldwide. Gail is the author of three books and more than 100 magazine articles. Gail judges quilt shows, conducts workshops, and lectures throughout the U.S. and abroad. From novice level classes that take the mystery out of paper foundation techniques and curved seam piecing to intermediate classes focusing on original design, students love her ability to make every student successful. Visit her website at gailgarber.com or visit her on Facebook at facebook.com/Gail-Garber.

Reeze Hanson is a prolific designer, entertaining speaker, and an award-winning teacher whose company, Morning Glory Designs, features an eclectic variety of whimsical florals and bold geometrics. Reeze teaches and lectures widely on one-patch quilt techniques, a unique approach to color theory, fusible web machine appliqué, and precision piecing projects of all types. She offers both traditional and modern techniques, shortcuts and tips to make beautiful quilts in less time, without sacrificing accuracy. Reeze has authored EQ8 tutorials and book chapters and teaches all levels of EQ8 quilt design software. A sewer, quilter, and custom dressmaker for more than 50 years, Reeze has lots of experience, wisdom, and humor to share. For more information, visit morningglorydesigns.com.

Laura Heine’s mix of artistic skills comes into play in her glorious art quilts. She has expert collaging skills when it comes to cutting and pasting, her painting talents shine as she arranges fabric motifs to blend colors, and her quilting abilities are award-winning. Laura has created a candy-colored world where everything from cars to giraffes are adorned with beautiful florals. Visit Laura’s shop at fiberworks-heine.com.

Award-winning fiber artist Sally Manke’s mission is to delight others with textile art that exemplifies her passion for joyful, creative expression through color and texture. Sally creates her art quilts and fiber art in her home studio in Arcadia, Michigan. Nature is a theme in her work, as the wildflower-dotted woods, Lake Michigan shoreline, snowy trails, and country roads that surround her home often inspire her contemporary art quilts.

Sally’s passion for teaching rivals her passion for creating fiber art. After a 25-year career teaching art and life skills, she continues to share the joy of quilting and fiber art with students across the country. She designs her own line of art quilt patterns, creates for her role as an Island Batik Ambassador, and writes a blog to share her techniques. For more information, visit sallymanke.com.

Vicki McCarty learned to quilt from her grandmother over 40 years ago in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Later, teaching quilting for community education led to Vicki opening the Calico Patch Quilt Shop. Vicki has owned and operated a full-service quilt shop and BERNINA dealership since 2000, and she has taught and lectured at guilds and quilt shows across the country. Vicki enjoys mixing cottons with wool appliqué, and her passion for quilt design has inspired many published patterns available through national distributors. Her patterns have been published in American Quilter magazine, Simply Vintage by Quiltmania, and AQS OnPoint. Vicki and her husband, Tom, are featured on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens’ Fall 2018 Quilt Sampler as a “Top 10 Quilt Shop.” In 2018, Vicki began designing fabric for Marcus Fabrics. Enjoy Vicki’s designs at calicopatch.net.

Nancy McNally has been quilting for more than 20 years, after being introduced to quilting by accident at a picnic. She loves to design her own quilts and create longarm quilting designs. Nancy takes traditional blocks and jazzes them up! She likes to keep the eye moving across the quilt, but at the same time allow the eye to find a favorite spot to rest and appreciate the colors. Nancy is a national teacher of both piecing and longarm machine quilting, and has been published over 30 times in various quilting magazines and books. See her website at nancymcnallyquilts.com.

Judith Baker Montano is an award-winning and world-renowned Canadian fiber artist, photographer, author, and teacher. She is recognized as the consummate expert in crazy quilting, silk ribbon embroidery, and embellishments. Judith combines her painting background with needlework to produce freeform embroidered land and seascapes.

Judith grew up on the historic Bar U Ranch, Alberta, Canada. Her love of fabrics and embellishments reflect her Indian, French, and German heritage. Judith attended the California State University, Chico, graduating with a degree in art and journalism. Upon graduation, she painted with the San Francisco Art Guild.

Judith resides in the small town of La Veta, Colorado. She lives in a restored 1876 cottage with her husband, Ernest Shealy, and a menagerie of pets. For more information, visit judithbakermontano.com.

Cindy has been a national and international instructor for more than 15 years. She is well known in the quilting world for her work turning vintage linens into heirloom wholecloth and pieced quilts. She is the creator of six different sets of designing stencils known as the Ultimates, as well as the RipNGrip tool. Classes are geared towards providing good basic, fundamental techniques that her students can take off and run with. Lots of beautiful samples and quilts are always available for fondling in each class! For more information, visit cindyneedham.com.

Gina Perkes is an international award-winning quilter and quilting educator. She spends much of her time in the classroom, sharing tips and techniques with the most wonderful people in the world: quilters! Gina, a lover of all things creative, has an innate need to beautify things and feels completely blessed to have been born as an “artoholic.” Her life is filled with color, fun, ideas, texture, challenges, bling, threads, glitter, sugar, flour, and of course, CHAOS. Though she enjoys all sorts of creative outlets and mediums (gardening, mosaic, oil painting, etc.), her three favorites are quilting, culinary arts, and photography. Gina travels all over this beautiful country, sharing her techniques with others, and hosts private quilting and pastry retreats at her home in Arizona. Quilters can find more of Gina’s tips at thecopperneedle.com.

A quilter since 1986, Karen’s inspiration manifests equally of innovation and tradition. Her quilts have won numerous awards, including first prizes in international competitions, and her designs appear frequently in exhibition. Her Clam Session quilt received the Master of Innovative Artistry award at IQA in 2009, and her Indian Orange Peel Quilt was People’s Choice at Quilt National ’95. Having enjoyed success in design, publication, and teaching, she finds no greater satisfaction than in hand-finishing a newly quilted piece (with the possible exception of making someone else’s color “challenge” her business). Karen holds degrees in Piano from Baylor and Indiana Universities and has two beautiful daughters and three exemplary cats. She enjoys riding her bike from historic Deep Ellum in Dallas, TX.

Gail Van Horsen's love of quilts comes from the family quilts that were at her grandmother's house as a child. She loved to pick her favorite for her bed when spending the night. Her first quilt was made at age 8 and was a doll quilt for her little sister. Gail has quilted now for over 60 years and enjoys making all types of quilts. Her interest in quilts took her to appraising and she became an AQS Certified Appraiser in 2010. She is currently serving as president of the Professional Association of Appraisers- Quilted Textiles. She also enjoys lecturing on quilt history and presenting her quilt collections to guilds and quilt groups. Her largest collection is Double Knit Polyester Quilt, followed by Crib Quilts from the 20th Century.

Kris has been sewing and quilting for over 20 years. She loves sharing her passion for quilting and all things related to fabric, believing that quilting should be fun and not stressful. Kris teaches at national shows and guilds across the country, and has won numerous national awards for her machine quilting skills over the years. Most recently Kris was awarded “Best Movable” at AQS QuiltWeek in Paducah 2018, as well as at AQS Phoenix and Des Moines in 2016. She also won the PFAFF Master Award for Machine Artistry at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2015. Two of her quilts, TIGER, TIGER and STAR OF INDIA, are part of the permanent collection at The National Quilt Museum in Paducah. She loves traveling and leads quilt tours all over the world. Kris believes that no matter what language you speak, fabric is universal. Check out her Stress Free Quilting™ Series for tons of quilting tips and tricks. Quilterontherun.com