Teachers

Pam Clarke Pam Clarke has been quilting since the late 1960’s and sewing for 46 years. She lives in Spokane WA and grew up in Sacramento CA. Pam has been machine quilting and teaching machine quilting, piecing and appliqué classes since 1988. She is the owner of Home Stitches a professional machine quilting business that was started in 1988. Her work can be seen in several published magazines and books. She quilts for Debbie Mumm, K-P Kids, Fiber Mosaics, Mary Lou and Company, Fabric Sales, Kaufman, Bernantix, Retta Weirheim and Martingale. To this date she has quilted over 7,000 quilts and has made several hundred. Pam has appeared on Quilt Central and with Linda Taylor for PBS. She has also been featured in Fons and Porter as a Celebrity Quilter. Pam teaches all over the USA including IMQS, Innovations, Machines in Motion, The Home Machine Quilt, IMQX in NH and several local shows in the Northwest. Her favorite type of quilting is appliqué mixed with simple piecing with a scrappy look that has won her numerous ribbons across the USA. Designs with Lines is another business that was started by Pam Clarke in 1998. This technique was designed to help speed up the quilting process by using simple lines as a guide to create individual designs. Pam has been creating her own stencils for several years and this technique is used for the home machine quilter or the longarm machine quilter. She has available 8 videos From Beginning to the Advanced Machine quilter along with Sketchbooks full of ideas to go along with her stencils. Pam has also expended her business this year to include Log Cabin Dry Goods, the largest retail and machine-quilting store in Spokane. With A-1 machine rentals, drop off quilting services, a broad range of classes, high quality, low cost fabrics, die cut services and meeting rooms. Pam is excited to see Log Cabin Dry Goods grow. In February 2007 she introduced her new book published by Golden threads and AQS “Quilting Inside the Lines” and is an authorized certified Husqvarna Viking Sewing Machine dealer.

Doug Creasy Doug Creasy co-owns and operates with wife Martha, A Touch of Thread Quilting Gallery, a full service Gammill Longarm dealership in Zanesville, Ohio. Doug's six years in the U.S. Navy in the position of Electrician's Mate, 1st Class, and the following 23 years ending as Shop Foreman at Electric Motor and Service, responsible for electrical and mechanical repairs for large industrial plants is serving him well in his new occupation. It comes naturally to Doug to assemble, maintain and repair the longarm machines, since he can't remember a time when he didn't have some kind of assembly or repair tool in his hand. Coupled with his hobby of computers, it was a natural for Doug to love the Gammill, and then the Statler Stitcher. In the beginning, his position was to be that of a helper on weekends. After using all his vacation days and whatever other days he could get, he still could not keep up with the demands of this growing business, so he resigned his full time job to take on a bigger full time job. In addition to being responsible for set-up, assembly, all repair and maintenance, Doug still finds time to offer maintenance classes once each month on the longarm machine, as well as some introductory classes to computerized quilting with the Statler Stitcher. Visit his website at www.atouchofthread.net

Phyllis Groves Phyllis Groves lives in Lousiville, OH, with her husband of 53 years. They have two sons, three granddaughters, a grandson and five great grandchildren. Both Phyllis and her husband are retired and enjoy quilting together. Needlecrafts have been in Phyllis’s life since she was a young girl. Piecing and Quilting on her domestic machine for many years, sewing her own clothing and then for others supplied extra money started the path to her passion. In 1990, for their 35th wedding celebration, her dear husband seeded the start of a fabric shop which Phyllis ran for 12 years. Teaching needle work and quilting and sharing the art is a joy. During that time 1500+ quilts were completed. Upon retirement the shop was sold and they downsized. Now Phyllis has a never ending stash of supplies (fabrics) to draw from. When Phyllis started longarming, the craft was in it’s infancy. Her machine is an early #142 Nolting made by Ken Gammill and Ken Knolting. It has a 16” throat on a 14’ table with no bells and whistles. Her studio is in the lower (down under) level of her home. She continues to run a small business, Quilt & Sew, but doesn’t actively look for customers. By her view point “Retirement is good!” Over the years Phyllis has won a number of quilting awards and has recently been inspired by our group (OLAQ) to participate and enter shows again. Membership in Glad Raggs Doll Club, Quilting Stars of Ohio, NEROQC, and Ohio Longarm keeps her busy (as if that is necessary).

DeLoa Jones DeLoa Jones Has been quilting for over 25 years she has authored books on machine quilting as well as piecing. Her unique styles are easily learned and adapted to all who take her classes. DeLoa teaches nationally as well as internationally. Fresh ideas are taught which are easily presented to all who attend her classes. her sincere approach to teaching and genuine appreciation for each student make all her classes a must. Deloa is a recent grandmother and mother of eight children. She currently resides in South Haven, Michigan and operates a successfull machine quilting business from her home.

Janice Kiser Janice Kiser owned and managed a production weaving studio, The Ewe Tree, until she began hand quilting in 1997. By 2002, she closed her weaving business and began using her creative talents in the longarm quilting arena. As both her personal and customer quilts began to win awards in multiple shows, her business grew to that of a full time longarm quilter. Her quilting style encompasses all facets available to longarm work. Janice can quickly assess a quilt to determine what type of quilting will best compliment the quilt structure. Finding easy ways to do complicated tasks helps Janice provide customer satisfaction by minimizing time requirements, whether she is working with a pantograph or more complex custom quilting. She teaches these time saving techniques in her classes. In addition to her quilting business, Janice finds time to teach and inspire others in both piecing and quilting. She has done programs for students from many different cultures. Visit her website at www.EweTree.com.

Linda McCuean Linda McCuean learned to sew at the age of nine in a 4H club and has been making quilts since 1979. After many years of hand quilting, she began quilting on a longarm machine in 1998 and it was love at first stitch! Her quilts have won top honors at numerous quilt shows nationally and internationally. Her quilt, Bella, was the 2006 winner of the $100,000 Quilting Challenge and she received the Gammill Longarm Quilting award at the 2003 AQS show. Linda’s quilts have been featured in numerous books, magazines, and calendars. Linda is an NQA certified quilt judge, and Master Quilter

Kathy McCarty Kathy McCarty, an award winning professional longarm quilter from Ashtabula, Ohio, began quilting in 1986. Kathy's personalization of quilting to the quilt design soon put her in great demand by numerous quilters, including those competing in regional and national competitions. In 2002 Kathy opened her business, "A Thread Runs Through It. LLC." and began quilting professionally. Rarely following a pattern, Kathy prefers instead to use her artistic talent in doing custom work, personalizing each individual quilt. In addition to longarm quilting, Kathy also provides lectures to guilds and other groups, and finds time to teach quilting classes. Her lectures provide incredible insight about the relationship between the quiltmaker and the quilter. Quiltmakers and quilters benefit from the insights gained to make every future quilt a work of art. Visit her website at www.athreadrunsthroughit.com

Diana Phillips Diana moved to California from Michigan in 1976 where she was bitten by the quilting bug and has been hooked for 30 years. Always fascinated with color, design and asking “what if?’, she has pieced and quilted hundreds of her own quilts as well as quilting many, many more for clients. She began quilting by hand, moved to a DSM and since 1994, she has been quilting for clients with a Longarm machine. She is an award winning quilter for her own and client quilts, she created and self-publishes the very first and largest book series dedicated to freehand quilting with over 20 books available as well as co-authoring the Quilting Variations book series with Jodi Robinson. She began teaching Freehand Quilting several years ago and enjoyed a trip to Australia to teach at AMQC 2005. She currently lives in Michigan with her son and Max the Airedale. Many examples of her quilting as well as class samples can be see at cozy-creations.com and http:\\community.webshots.com/user/madijj

Bona Robinson Bona Robinson has worked as a CPA for many years, both in a tax department and in computer installation/training for various CPA firms clients using a variety of integrated accounting packages. She has taught university-level computer, accounting, and tax classes since receiving her Masters degree. In addition, she and her husband have owned several businesses over the years giving her 'live' experience in small business daily operations. Bona has been using Quickbooks in her longarm business for ten years and has completely customized the setup for specific needs of the longarm business owner.

Jodi Robinson 2008 marks Jodi Robinson's 11th year as a longarm quilter. She is currently on the national longarm teaching circuit, teaching hands-on classes at MQS, as well as other shows and shops. Jodi's quilts are consistent winners at both national and local shows, always showcasing new and innovative quilting designs. Her cutting edge quilting encompasses the latest in use of multiple colors of thread, and elaborate stitching. Together with Diana Phillips, Jodi co-authored Quilting Variations, a five book series on various long-arm techniques. She has self-published six long-arm quilting books. The latest, Less Stress Feathers, was released in 2006. This innovative approach has revolutionized the quilting of feathers, easily and beautifully. Jodi's books and hands-on classes focus on using quick and easy methods to create unique freehand designs that personalize each and every quilt. In addition to her teaching and writing schedule, Jodi is a professional longarm quilter, who enjoys a wide customer base in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio.

Shirley Stutz Shirley’s teaching has evolved from hand work to totally machine work, with special emphasis on machine quilting on both the domestic sewing machine and the longarm quilting machine, incorporating totally free form work, eliminating marking and removals of lines. Her free form designs are appropriate for both DSM and longarm machine work. Her book, Easy and Elegant Lone Star Quilts was published by C&T Publishing. She is currently writing a free form machine quilting series for American Quilter, and has been selected as a regular columnist for the new quilting magazine, Machine Quilting Unlimited. Shirley teaches across the United States and Canada, inspiring students to new heights in their own personal work.