Meet the InstructorsDarlene Zimmerman, Belle Plaine, MN
She has published 4 books with EZ Quilting (Companions; Quilts and Miniatures, The Quilter's Kitchen, Calming the Storm and Quilts to Come Home To and 8 books with F + W Publications (Quick Quilted Miniatures, Granny Quilts, Granny Quilts Décor!, Fat Quarter Small Quilts, The Quilter’s Edge, The Complete Guide to Quilting, Quilts from Lavender Hill Farm and Fresh from the Clothesline. Darlene frequently publishes articles and patterns in quilt magazines, and has also been self-publishing patterns under her company name of Needlings, Inc. Darlene has been designing 1930s reproduction fabric collections for the past 16 years, and also did the Clothesline Club with her Robert Kaufman Fabrics. |
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Rebecca Haarer, Shipshewana, IN
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Penny introduced her innovative, new Pieced Appliqué™ technique at Spring Market in Portland in the Spring of 2008. Her technique has been featured in American Patchwork and Quilting and Love of Quilting in 2008. And, she is currently working on an article that will appear in American Quilter this fall. In her “spare time”, Penny consults with and writes the newsletter for Checker Distributors, the largest distributor of books, patterns, notions and fabrics serving the independent quilting, sewing and needlearts retailer worldwide. |
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Susan Knapp & Mary Jane Mattingly
Susan has been a quilter for 20 years. She began as a new stay-at-home mom who needed a creative outlet. She is a highly sought-after quilt teacher for local quilt shops and organizations, specializing in teaching newcomers. Her ability to stress the illusive 1/4” seam as the very basis of good quilt making has brought a high degree of success to her students’ projects. Her knowledge of the world of fabric came to her by honest, hard work at the University of Illinois where she received a master’s degree in the University Extension Program. She is the mother of two college students and the wife of a farmer. Mary Jane, though not formally trained, has been a textile art student and seamstress for many years. Working mainly in garment construction and costume design for the local theatre group that she co-founded, her love of textile art has been seen by many. It was by chance that 10 years ago, as her 4 children left the nest and her husband was reaching retirement age that she decided to take a quilting class from none other than her current business partner. |
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June 20 - 23, 2012 |
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Darlene Zimmerman lives in rural Minnesota, is married and a mother of four children and a grandmother to five. Her quilt career began by designing tools for EZ Quilting (Simplicity), and she now has more than 20 quilting tools on the market.
Rebecca Haarer, raised in a Mennonite family in the Shipshewana area has been collecting the old Amish and Mennonite quilts from local families and farm auctions since the mid 1970s. Her quilts can be seen in "The World of Amish Quilts" (Pellman and Pellman) and have been shown in numerous museum exhibitions. "These quilts are saved and displayed to show the continuity of an art form that continues to flourish so beautifully in our community today." She is owner of Rebecca Haarer Arts and Antiques of Shipshewana, specializing in American vintage "quilts and pieces" as well as contemporary traditional Amish textiles and handicrafts.
For more than 20 years, as a quilter and several years as a shop owner, Ohio-based Penny Haren has been developing and teaching techniques that make it quick, easy and fun for quilters —even beginners—to create intricate blocks with stunning results. Her technique, Pieced Appliqué™, eliminates inset points and curves from even the most complicated blocks. Quilts and blocks that you might never have considered are now not only possible but a breeze.
Having both lived in the middle of the State of Illinois all our lives; it was inevitable that our love of textile art would bring us together. We have many years of combined experience working in various areas of textile design. It has been a consuming hobby and a side job for both of us, working well into our busy lives of being wives and mothers.
Penny has taught quilting classes for thirteen years, managed a quilt shop and a sewing machine dealership, and now enjoys creating patterns that are unique and memorable for the quilters that will make them! Each of her patterns has a connection to something old. Handkerchiefs, buttons, needlework, chenille and antique quilts are the inspiration for the Pineapple Press Patterns. These treasured elements are renewed to be enjoyed again in today's quilts.