Meet the Teachers

 

We take the time to search out the best in the industry, introducing you to exceptional designers, best-selling authors, creative thinkers and visionaries. Taking classes at Original Sewing & Quilt Expo adds to a memorable and satisfying experience.

Nick Coman

Ridgway, CO
Dragonfly Dyeworks
dragonflycreative.art
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Nick Coman has been teaching garment and quilt construction and design for almost 20 years. He has a degree in fashion design from FIDM in Los Angeles, and has written numerous articles for sewing publications and has a book on surface design. In addition to a private clientele, Nick is owns a retreat center in southwest Colorado that specializes in retreats for Fiber artists of all types.  

 

Christine Conner

Dublin, OH

Amélie Scott Designs

ameliescott.com

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Christine Conner is the managing partner and creative force behind Amélie Scott Designs, a family run business. She has created over 80 products and written 4 books since the inception of the company in 2008. Her top selling book, Edge to Edge Quilting on Your Embroidery Machine, provides a surprisingly simple technique that lets you get quilting results like a long-arm with your home embroidery machine. Christine developed this revolutionary technique to address budget and time constraints with her own quilting needs. She decided to publish a this book after realizing that many other people were having difficulty finishing their quilt tops.

 

Eric Drexler
Port Charlotte, FL
Sulky of America
sulky.com
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Free-motion artistry has been Eric's other life-long passion ever since he was inspired by Joyce when, at age 10, she first taught him the technique. He has made numerous large and small works of machine art, some of which have been featured in Sulky Books and at Trade and Consumer Shows all over the country. Through his association with Sulky of America during all the years of its existence, he has had the pleasure and honor of being inspired by some of the world's greatest creative sewers and quilters. Eric loves life and he loves to teach and share his exuberance for creative sewing. He is passionate about inspiring students of all ages so they can discover and enjoy a lifetime of creative fun. His infectious smile and warm humor puts everyone at ease and makes them ready and eager to learn. He is widely sought after to teach and share his contagious enthusiasm at Consumer shows, Sew Exciting Seminars, Guild Programs and, more recently, on PBS shows.

 

Michele Gillombardo
Middleburg Heights, OH
Pins and Needles
pinsandneedles.com
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Michele has been teaching for more than eight years at Pins and Needles in Middleburg Heights, Ohio and the sewitonline.com community. She has been sewing and quilting off and on for more than thirty years. Self- taught, using online certifications (Baby Lock Solutions Expert and The Martha Pullen Company), you-tube and perseverance, she has created a learning style that fits all students. Her passion is teaching embroidery, quilting and serging. Her approach is to teach within a relaxed, stress-free atmosphere. She enjoys sharing her knowledge, making sure everyone is comfortable and has the best time creating, whether a beginner or advanced student.

 

Karla Herrin

Charlestown, IN

Karla has been around the sewing and quilting world all her life, but after a move and career change in 1994 she jumped in and explored all it had to offer. Student, teacher, sewing, machine sales and store manager led her to over 15 years as a free lance educator for SVP Worldwide. Karla loves to design, use and develop new ways to sew and embroider using both new techniques and tools. She is happiest in her sewing studio.

 

Jaymi Horne

Carmel, IN 

Cranky Kangaroo

crankykangaroo.com

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Jaymi Horne has been sewing professionally for over 20 years. She began quilting as a creative outlet, and fell in love with Foundation Paper Piecing. Dubbed the “FPP Queen” by her Instagram followers, she has designed over 50 Foundation Paper Pieced patterns, has been published in Make Modern Magazine and featured in local art shows.

 

Joyce Keske

Minong, WI

Joyce Keske Design

Joyce started her sewing career in her early 20s making leather jackets. She started her own bridal business, which led to working for David’s Bridal where she was named “Alteration Manager of the Year” for the entire United States. Later she became a Baby Lock Ambassador where she discovered her passion for teaching. She now travels the country teaching for her company, Joyce Keske Design.

Marsha Kirsch
Bay Village, OH
The past 12 years Marsha has been a national educator for SVP worldwide. She is greatly loved for her enthusiasm and lively presentations while sharing masterful technical skills or the inspiration that sewers take away from her events. Using her education background she imparts an empowering "can do" attitude, opening up doors to creativity, and fun ways to embellish projects with exciting results. Student smiles at the end of her events are her reward. Marsha enjoys creating and designing garments, purses and home decor projects which incorporate a creative touch, especially through embellishment. She has had publications in Design in Machine Embroidery and Classic Sewing magazines and had appeared with Sue Hausmann on PBS and Behind the Seams, an internet sewing show through SVP.

 

Donelle McAdams
Marion, IN
Representing Sew Steady
sewsteady.com
sewbizmarion.com
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Donelle McAdams is the owner of SEW BIZ, Marion, Indiana, now an online quilt resource. Donelle is the designer of Quick Easy Mitered Binding and Border Tools for the Sewing and Quilting industry that are sold internationally and she is also a pattern designer. Previously a Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, she has been a quilt store owner for 36 years. She has taught a variety of SchoolHouse and Take & Teach classes and Business Management Seminars at International Quilt Market, Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff Sewing Conventions, Vacuum & Sewing Machine Dealers Trade Association Convention and has participated as a Quilt Store Owner/Educator on numerous panels and advisory boards. She writes a column Profitable Promotions - for FabShop News, an industry magazine and also writes for VDTA. As a promoted Educator for Sew Steady/Westalee Design Templates, Donelle teaches classes in Ruler Work Quilting. Her love and enthusiasm for sewing and quilting is infectious. Taking a class with Donelle is guaranteed to be information-packed, inspirational and FUN!

 

Nina McVeigh

Stevens Point, WI

Nina McVeigh, a quilter, designer, and fabric artist, who previously owned a quilt shop for 15 years and most recently was the Quilting and Longarm Specialist for BERNINA of America, where she was instrumental in the development of BERNINA’s Longarm Quilting Machines. She has written for several magazines including McCall’s Quilting, Designs in Machine Embroidery and Through the Needle. Nina has contributed to the WEALLSEW Blog, writing articles on Heirloom Sewing and Quilting. She travels and teaches and gets so much inspiration from her students! She has also developed a line of Quilting Rulers.

 

Sue O'Very-Pruitt

Lutz, FL

sookiesews.com

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Sue (aka Sookie) is a published author, notion designer, YouTuber, pattern/embroidery designer, and proudly the BERNINA Embroidery Software V9 Expert. Her background in costume design shines through when creating new patterns. She loves to bring new and clever projects to her sewing friends while sharing tips and tricks along the way. Her focus is sewing/serger patterns, machine embroidery designs, and In-the-Hoop projects. You will find Sue full of sewing knowledge and a few jokes too.
 

Judy Phillips

Stow, OH

Sew Deja Vu

sewdejavu.com

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Ten years ago Judy Phillips opened Sew Deja Vu's doors with a mission to meet the needs of modern sewists. Bringing the newest notions, technical skill classes, and modern trendy fabrics to the hands of sewists and quilters everywhere. The quilt-covered walls and bolts of fabric provide creative inspiration for anyone who enters the store.

 

When Judy shared her passion for the art of sewing, she created a community of not only amazing customers but life-long friends. The home store is located in Stow, Ohio but on occasion, you can find Judy Phillips and the Sew Deja Vu crew traveling to different quilt expos and events. Giving her the ability to share her expertise with a larger audience, and watch their creativity bloom with every class she teaches.

 

Catherine Redford

Naperville, IL

catherineredford.com

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Catherine Redford was born in England where she learned to knit and sew as a young girl. After relocating from London to Naperville, Illinois, she learned to quilt and never looked back. She's an award-winning quilter, an active member of her local guilds, and a popular teacher at the local and national level. Catherine is a frequent magazine contributor and has enjoyed being a guest on Quilting Arts TV. She is enjoying the resurgence of interest in handwork with an embroidery book, Butterfly Stitches, published Fall 2020, and, with two DVDs and a book on Modern Machine Quilting techniques, Catherine delights in finishing her own quilts on a domestic machine.

 

Kathy Ruddy
Mukilteo, WA
kathyruddy.com
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Kathy is an international sewing celebrity, educator, pattern designer, Serger and fitting expert. Active in the sewing industry since 1962, she is the star of 10 Serger and sewing videos and author of 12 Serger and sewing booklets and her new enhanced books on CD called Three ways to Learn CD'S. You can look at pictures of her projects from start to finish, read the words next to the pictures as you listen to Kathy impart her wisdom and experiences as she develops her projects. If you like a hard copy you can print off as many pages from the CD as you like. Her specialty is to show how to sew and serge fast and easy without sacrificing quality, fit or fashion details. Her fresh, fun classes are brimming with surprises and ideas.

 

Jim Suzio

Pittsburgh, PA
jimsuzio.com
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Jim Suzio is an award winning artist, designer, digitizer and sewing instructor (including embroidery software, heirloom, fashion and serger sewing). A self taught sewer, Jim was inspired to try the craft after watching a neighbor's enthusiasm in the art. A new sales position at a machine dealer found him literally "thrown" on stage at an ASG convention where he was discovered by Sue Hausmann, host of the PBS series "America Sews with Sue Hausmann." Jim soon found himself teaching all over the US, Canada and Australia for Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff Sewing Machine Companies. His work has been featured in numerous books and magazines and several ads for Husqvarna Viking and the launch of Ty Pennington's new fabric line. he has been seen on several television programs here ("America Sews with Sue Hausmann,"and "It's Sew Easy") and in Canada ("the Big Breakfast Show").  

 

Joe Vecchiarelli
Glendale, CA
French European Dress Forms

frencheuropeaninc.com

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Joe Vecchiarelli, founder and president of French European Inc., has worked in the fashion industry for over 40 years. During his college years, Joe worked in the family business, sharpening scissors for the industry's top designers. He later graduated from USC's business program and began to realize that opportunities in the apparel business were unlimited. Mr. Vecchiarelli's career took another fascinating turn when he made a foray into the entertainment business working in production with shows like Dancing with the Stars and The X Factor. A few years ago he was approached by NBC to help produce the competitive design talent show, Fashion Star. Presently Mr. Vecchiarelli is ever so busy maintaining his business and helping fashion students and enthusiasts grasp their dreams and become successful within the industry.

 

Nelly Vileikis 

Aurora, OH

Artelas Quilts

artelasquilts.com 

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Nelly's love affair with quilting started in 1985 while attending graduate school at the University of Montana. One day, while walking into the University Library, she saw the most beautiful landscape quilt hanging at the entrance. She said to herself, "I have to learn to do that". Three days later she was at Geneva Cheffy's home and her life changed forever. Geneva took Nelly under her wing and opened another world for her. For over fifteen years she has been sharing her knowledge as a freelance teacher. Nelly teaches quilt construction techniques and machine quilting. Since 2008 she has taught for Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, which takes her all over the US. She also teaches private workshops, gives lectures and does trunk shows. Nelly loves sharing her talent with her students and willingly encourages them to reach beyond what they consider their normal limits. She designs and publishes quilting patterns and when time permits, she works on other people's quilts using her long-arm machine. She has had numerous patterns published in several issues of Modern Patchwork Magazine. She continuously participates in International, National, regional and local quilt/art competitions and has won numerous awards. Most recently, her work has been included in many exhibits with The Textile Art Alliance of the Cleveland Museum of Art as well as her own solo exhibits. Nelly enjoys reading, traveling and outdoor activities. She lives with her husband in Aurora, Ohio.

 

Alicia Welcher
Heron, MT

Martha Pullen Company

Classic Sewing

aliciawelcher.com

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Alicia is a designer, author and sewing instructor who specializes in heirloom and serger sewing. She has appeared Martha's Sewing Room with Martha Pullen and has published countless projects under the Martha Pullen Company label. As a beginning and advanced instructor at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion, Martha Pullen Teacher Licensings and events throughout the country, she has earned a following of devoted sewists. She is also the Assistant Editor of and a contributing designer for Classic Sewing magazine.