The Elly Sienkiewicz Appliqué Academy^®  llc XIII

February 12 - 15, 2009

Come Stitch the Past to the Future! 

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       Shirley Bloomfield

Personal Notes from Shirley

I am fortunate enough to live in a 500-year-old cottage surrounded by a large garden in the heart of the English countryside. The flowers, birds and wildlife which surround my home are the inspiration for my quilt designs. I became interested in Baltimore Album quilts about 10 years ago. However I wanted to develop my own designs to give an English flavour to the genre. I found plenty of ideas, more than I could ever stitch, in my cottage garden and the nearby fields. I particularly enjoy dimensional techniques to give texture to a design and many of my early pieces include dimensional flowers.

Most of my quilt making is focused on developing ideas to meet the demands of my heavy teaching schedule. I like to have fresh ideas which are accessible by students at different skill levels. I enjoy adapting techniques to help students achieve their best and avoid frustration. I’m always looking for the potential for designs as I work in my garden or walk the lanes. In response to my students’ requests I am writing a book so I can share my designs and technique tips with a wider audience.

Last year I designed ‘Summer Bounty’ especially for the Academy to evoke some of the delights of my garden in summer. A number of dimensional techniques were included which are fun to stitch and intrigue the viewer. The raspberries looked good enough to eat! I have developed a special technique to help students handle very tiny pieces and get sharp points. 

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      Jenifer Buechel

Jeni's Background

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jenifer has been quilting for about 19 years and teaching for ten years. She focuses her teaching in original designed Appliqué and silk ribbon embroidery, specializing in advanced techniques like reverse, cutwork, dimensional, and beaded Appliqué. She is also a skilled calligrapher, and often incorporates pen and ink calligraphy or other creative methods to achieve the effects of calligraphy in her quilts. Jenifer has written two books, Miniature Baltimore Album Quilts, and A Silk Ribbon Album, both published by Martingale & Company, and has also self-published an extensive number of beautiful patterns. You may reach Jeni with questions at: jeni@ornamentalapplique.com. You will love a visiting her beautiful web site located at: www.ornamentalapplique.com

Personal Notes from Jeni

Antique Baltimore Album quilts; other antiques and "Victoriana" inspire my quilting ideas. My quiltmaking and design are always evolving whether through  self-maturity or a more open-eye perspective. Currently I am working on a third book focusing on framing album blocks with cutwork and embellished frames. You can also see my work featured in Elly's Dimensional Appliqué and the cover of Elly's Baltimore Album Legacy. In addition, I also have a small mail-order hand-dyed silk ribbon business. I am always continuing to explore unique and innovative ways to design original Baltimore Albums that retain the visual aspects of a traditional one.

I am always anticipating teaching at the Appliqué Academy as I enjoy the prospect of meeting and teaching others who are as interested in Appliqué and quilting as I am. I return home each year inspired by the warmth and creativity of the many instructors and students. I am always inspired and challenged by the creativity and enthusiasm of everyone attending. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

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     Nancy Kerns

Nancy's Background

Nancy has been an NQA Certified Quilt Teacher since 1986 and in 2005 was a Guest Artist’s in Residence at The Elly Sienkiewicz Appliqué Academy in Williamsburg, VA.  Nancy has been a faculty member with the Appliqué Academy since 2006, and has also taught at the following events:  AQS Nashville Show, August 2006, October 2006; Private Retreat, Kerry, Ireland, 2007; The Appliqué Society Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, May 2007; and Appliqué by the Bay, Lewes, DE, December, 2007.

Nancy's work has been juried into the Houston Quilt Festival and American Quilter's Society Show in Paducah, KY, as well as included in several special Baltimore Album exhibits (Houston, Chicago and Nashua NH). An early quilt was featured on the cover of Issue #187 of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine and a recent work pictured in the Premier Issue of the $100,00 Quilting Challenge magazine. Featured on Page 37, the angel in upper left photo as well as the top block on the quilt and left side block was stitched as a commission piece for Maggie Walker.

 You may email Nancy with questions at: nkerns@patmedia.net   You can also visit Nancy at her web site:  www.nancykerns.com

Personal Notes from Nancy

Sewing has appealed to me since I was very small.  I took a sewing class during summer school in High School, and my father promised me a new sewing machine if I got an “A”. With report card in hand, I proudly showed my achievement and received a new top-of-the-line Kenmore machine that afternoon! I got into sewing because I loved to run the machine. Now, many years later, I still love machine work, but find I spend more of my time doing complex hand appliqué. As I am a problem solver by nature, I have discovered many ways to do things in appliqué to simplify the techniques or to achieve specific results. I am very eager to share these tips and tricks with my students.

My classroom time is structured, organized and usually on schedule. I have many things to share and want to be sure to get them all covered. I am prepared with supplies the students will need, samples to demonstrate the techniques and other needs (like chocolate!!) Even though I try to fit a lot of content into the class, we will have time to sew. I like the atmosphere to be encouraging and supportive and I get great pleasure out of students understanding a new process.

I am currently working on my third, 25 block Baltimore Album style quilt. I participate in the Baltimore Quiltlist on www.yahoogroups.com and have been sharing tips and suggestions for each block of the D.A.R. Museum’s Mary Simon patterns as I make them. Now that the blocks are finished, I have challenged myself to design a border to compliment the blocks, as the original quilt had none, and am working on that now.

Since both my children are grown, I am able to travel more to teach. I am currently adding classes to my schedule and encourage you to visit my website to see where I will be teaching, as well as class descriptions and pictures of my work.

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      Sharon Schamber

Most recently, Sharon was awarded both "Best of Show" and "Best Longarm Machine Quilting" at the 2006 AQS Quilt Show and Contest, Paducah, KY, for her quilts "Sedona Rose", and "Scarlet Serenade".  Students at The Appliqué Academy were privileged to view both this masterpieces up close and personal during our Show and Share festivity.

Sharon's other accomplishments include a growing line of patterns, a simplified machine appliqué technique, machine embroidery patterns, and a unique hand-quilting method.  Sharon lives in Arizona with her husband, her greatest fan.  You may email Sharon at:   sharon@sharonschamber.com or visit her website at:
www.sharonschamber.com

I generate ideas from many sources, some my own, and some from old patterns and art source  books. The overlying themes are floral, cameos, gowns and some historical themes. I am dyslexic and so do all my own design work, much of it generated on computer. My quilts continue to evolve artistically, starting about 5 1/2 years ago with all hand-quilted traditional pieces to current mostly machine pieces featuring hand painting, machine embroidery, and trapunto work.  I also have hand-beaded one of my pieces. Several pieces are handwork of my own design, and the other exciting pieces are hand painted and have many different facets, which appeal to a wide cross-section of quilters and artists. My appliqué techniques employ hand-turned roses and other little gems. I look forward to sharing my work with like-minded students in the Academy's special environment.

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Judy's Background

Judy is not only an award winning quiltmaker, but a serious artist too. Nationally known for her line of embossed stationery, she works with several distinguished museum collections to translate their quilts into print media. Judy has managed to blend her work with what gives her pleasure by combining a Home Economics Degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, with extensive art and quilt studies with the San Francisco Art Institute, Palo Alto Art Club, the American Quilt Study Group, and many teachers including Elly Sienkiewicz. She is a quiltmaker with a love for the traditional, and a printmaker with a love for texture, warmth, and memories. Judy's first book is titled Flowers in Appliqué, Fast and Simple Quilting with Printed-Motif Fabrics, published by The Quilt Digest Press.  You may email Judy with questions at:  judysev@gmail.com

Personal Notes from Judy

My ideas come from patterns in china, rugs and other things that I live with or pictures I cut  from magazines or that I find in books. When creating a floral motif (Broderie Perse) quilt, generally I start with the layout of the flowers in the fabric and study how they are grouped with other flowers. I let it suggest if it would make a medallion center, or whether it would be better used in a border, or both. Studying and seeing quilts from the past, as well as the quilts made today, give me inspiration.

I think of my quilts as bed quilts, and enjoy the traditional approach using both reproduction fabrics as well as contemporary floral fabrics. I like combining appliqué with some patchwork, but also like to add feather designs either as quilted, stuffed appliqué, or reverse appliqué. Right now, I enjoy using the printed motifs because they allow me to make "one-of-a-kind" quilts, in much the same way as you would make a collage by arranging cutouts. Recently I have taken the feather quilting designs and miniaturized them, and made them into rubber stamps. The rubber stamps allow me to make small quilts to try out different design ideas for Broderie Perse quilts.

I have been having such fun making printed motif quilts and I want other quilters to have the same experience. My students will make their own "one-of-a-kind" medallion style quilt. At the Academy, I hope to show how quickly these quilts go together when you use the layout of the fabric to its best advantage. Also, there are earlier 19th century reproduction fabrics being produced, which are perfect for these quilts. For returning students to this class, they are welcome to create a new medallion style quilt or be challenged more by making a framed style quilt that will require more appliqué and pre-planning. My interest in using floral cutouts in Album quilts is longstanding. I have started several albums, one of which for a close friend who married in my home several years ago, and which she was to complete. Everyone in attendance was asked to sign a block. But the quilt remains in progress. Now each year on her birthday and at Christmas, I present her with two more blocks. I just completed an album quilt using toiles and cutout flowers that I love and as well as the quilt, Summer Flowers, that is shown in my book. making any small blocks for an album quilt challenges me to design each block differently while using the same flowers.

I have been quilting since 1974 and have been particularly interested in all styles of traditional appliqué. I have slowly acquired a small library of books and patterns on this subject. I was given a pattern collection from the 1930s, all drawn on tissue paper of floral appliqué blocks and quilts. It is fun to share these patterns with quilters to keep the patterns alive.

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    Joan Shay

I have never enjoyed gardening but I love flowers - Appli-bond allows me to create a weed-free garden that blooms all year -  In addition to flowers this technique is very effective for Birds and Fish.  I can't wait to share my ideas and techniques on how to create dimensional excitement to your appliqué projects. Come garden with me !!!

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   Elly Sienkiewicz

Elly's Background

For several decades now, Elly Sienkiewicz has been designing, stitching, creating fabric lines, writing, and teaching on quilts. Author of 19 appliqué books, Elly received the Quilt Industry's 2003 Silver Star Award for significant influence on the contemporary quiltworld. Elly's Appliqué12 Easy Ways! won the Quilt Industry Classics Award for Best Book on Appliqué. Elly's 19th book, Baltimore Elegance, was published in 2006. In 2007 Appliqué12 Easy Ways was published in German by a German publisher. C&T Publishing sponsored two major Baltimore Album Revival Exhibitions to celebrate her books' impact on the decades-long Baltimore Album and Appliqué Revival. Before becoming so deeply involved with group-made Albums, Elly's individual work hung at shows across the country and at Museums and Galleries in and around Washington, DC, her home town. Inspiring as both a teacher and speaker, she has lectured for the Smithsonian Institution, across the country, and on five continents. Her work is widely published in quilt magazines in the US, Europe, and Japan, and in The Magazine Antiques, Folk Art Magazine, Victoria, Country Living, and Threads. Her latest signature fabric lines are showcased on www.robertkaufman.com. Teaching is Elly's joy: You'll find her classes filled with tips, techniques, and flower-filled fun

Personal Notes from Elly

My quilt making ideas come from art, nature and history (especially American history). My enduring love is classic Baltimore Albums. I find their lessons on needlework and on life fascinating! Most recently, I have been intrigued by their reference to theorem painting, an earlier needleart where fruit and flowers were stenciled on velvet with oil paint. In 2001 and 2002 my Appliqué Academy conference class focused on theorem stencil shaded fruit. One of these blocks graces the cover of Best of Baltimore Beauties, Part 2 (C&T). I also made two large machine done wall quilts on these themes: Fruit of the Spirit (Urn of Cherries), which is almost 7 feet tall, and Splendors of Summer (close to 5 feet tall). Both were quilted by Cathy Sandback. This desire to "play" with elements inspired by the Baltimores is reflected in my small purses and even in my book, Sweet Dreams, Moon Baby (C&T), a children’s story-poem illustrated by simple appliqué’s which have been theorem stencil-shaded. I’m most intrigued by appliqué-illustrated stories right now and am not sure where this interest will lead me. 

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    Gabrielle Swain

Gabrielle's Background

Personal Notes from Gabrielle

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    Nadine Thompson

Nadine's Background

Nadine is a wife, mother and grandmother.  She has been involved in needlework for the better part of sixty years. From the stamped flannel baby layettes purchased at the variety store to the hand quilting and appliqué she does today with cross stitch, crewel, smocking, silk ribbon, garment making, etc. and more, in between. In the eighties Nadine worked for an art needlework company in new product development interpreting the art work of the designers into needlework. Twenty years ago, she  moved on from there to teaching in a local shop, just one step ahead of students who did not know she was learning appliqué as she was passing it along to them.

As her own work improved, so did that of her students and they acquired new skills together.  Many of the beginning students were the core of students that came to Baltimore Appliqué. Nadine's work has taken her from the West to the East coast. She has taught at Quilt festival in Houston, TAS in Sacramento, CA, Quilters heritage in Arizona as well as for guilds all over CA, Louisiana, Nevada, Missouri, Texas, Oregon, Indiana and most recently Williamsburg VA 2005.  Her quilts have appeared  magazines such as Quilts, A World of Beauty, Quilt, QNM, and in books by Sally Collins, Jean Wells and Color For Quilters by Christine Barnes.  Nadine's needlework and quilts have won honors at Alameda County fair, Marin Quilt and Needlework  show, (First, Best in Class, Viewers Choice) Houston Quilt festival (First Places), Pacific International (First, Best of show) Baltimore Album Revival (Best In Class.)  Her quilts have been part of special exhibits including a traveling  show across England, a show in the museum at Paducah, and in Traditional Treasures II at Spring Market 2005. Nadine recently started a pattern business called "Somewhere In Time". You may email Nadine with questions at: BApplique@aol.com 

From the beginning my inspiration has had its roots in the art of women who lived long ago.  I  so admire the wonderful work accomplished under conditions many times severe by today's standards. I  am excited by their undying dedication to the best work possible. So when I need ideas I  immerse myself in my books and clippings, go to quilt exhibits online and ask myself why a certain quilt works for me, what there is about the appliqué placement  or color choices, the quilting designs, even the finishing that makes my heart  sing.  I then apply the essence of what I see to my project.  My quilts are predominately scrap in nature whether Baltimore Album or a simple nine patch. The elegance of chintz, the over done embellishments of the crazy quilts, the stark simplicity of a two-color quilt, a four-block red and green appliqué quilt or a Baltimore Album, always, be still my heart!

Where my quilt making may be headed is a difficult question for me because I have not quilted for my heart for a long time; a case of loving my work and getting lost in it for a while. I know I plan to make quilts I love. I want to get better at all aspects of appliqué and hand quilting. Recently I have a new enthusiasm for unfinished projects, as well as new ideas for the future work. I am in the process of finding a balance to leave time and room for some of those quilts I have only dreamed of for a long time.

Discounting for a moment the project itself, my emotions are high because of being once again in an all appliqué venue, with the luxury of teaching one block in a three day workshop conducted over four days. Amazing!  To be working in an environments  where everyone present is there for the same purpose, to appliqué, to accomplish much, and support and be supported.  It doesn't get any better.  

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    Jane Townswick

Jane's Background

Jane Townswick is currently teaching a sixteen-month-long series of appliqué classes at "Ladyfingers Sewing Studio" in Oley, Pennsylvania. It is based on her "Way Beyond Baltimore" block designs, which Elly Sienkiewicz saw in 1992. Elly included one of Jane's designs in her book, "Papercuts and Plenty". She has been teaching at the Appliqué Academy® for several years and class space is always at a premium. Jane is the author of Artful Appliqué; Artful Album Quilts: Appliqué Inspirations From Traditional Blocks, Artistic Floral Appliqué and her most current work, Applique Takes Wing, all published by That Patchwork Place (Martingale).  You may email Jane with questions at:  jtown@enter.net

Personal Notes from Jane

Nineteenth-century Baltimore Album quilts are a rich source of design ideas and inspiration, and I revel in traditional quilts as an art form. Another favorite source of inspiration is Mother Nature with all of the color and motifs she offers us. I also take much of my color inspiration from the great masters of the art world - particularly Gustav Klimt. Possibilities for great appliqué are almost everywhere. Real flowers, leaves, birds, and foliage are filled with a wide diversity of colors and shapes; a beautiful garden, lovely wildflowers, even flowers in paintings and greeting cards can spark an idea in my mind. I am inspired by architectural elements on many different types of buildings, and inspiration can come from things around the house too - - holiday decorations, furniture, wallpaper, decorative boxes or tiles. Anything you like with interesting color and line can be the genesis of a creative appliqué design.

My goal is to design original quilt designs that have traditional influences combined with a painterly approach to color. Along with this, I want to continue to develop new techniques and easy ways to do many different types of appliqué, such as Celtic, stained glass and jungle designs. I want to continue exploring the infinite variety of beautiful flowers, and develop floral appliqué designs that feature unexpected color combinations and color values.

Appliqué is a never-ending process for me, a journey that I hope to be on for the rest of my life. I can see the way my creativity has changed and grown, from symmetry to asymmetry, and I can’t wait to see how that will crop up in future quilts. And, I love the energy of being around so many wonderful people in one place, all of whom love appliqué as much as I do. That is probably more inspiring to me than anything else.

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Jan's Background

Jan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She has resided in Jacksonville, Florida for the past 31 years.  Married to her husband of 25 years, he is her most enthusiastic and devoted supporter. An experienced seamstress, quilter, teacher and pattern designer, Jan has 40 years of sewing and needle work experience. 

In 2003, she was invited by Elly to be the quest designer of the ancillary projects for Elly’s newest book, “Baltimore Elegance”.

In 2004, Jan’s love of sewing and designing blossomed into her pattern company, The Graham Cracker Collection.  In 2005, a subdivision was formed, Lil’ PunchNeedl’ Quilts, specializing in miniature punch needle appliquéd and pieced quilt patterns.  Keeping in the line of antique inspired quilts, another line of patterns will be introduced in the fall of 2007, Vintage Rooms, incorporating quilts and accessories for each room of the home.

Along with Jan’s Lil’ PunchNeedl’ Quilts co-designer, Lynn Rogers, they were invited by Quilt Fest International to teach at the 2007 International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas.  They were also invited by the American Quilters Society to be interviewed for an article scheduled for the 2008 Spring/Summer issue.  You may email Jan at:   vainej@netscape.net

I enjoy teaching and sharing my love of our mothers’, grandmothers’, and great grandmothers’ stitching techniques and designs with students.  My class goal is to teach each student at least one new technique, and in turn, learn from them as much as I can. 

The exquisite beauty and workmanship of the instructors’ and guests’ handwork at the Academy is awe-inspiring.   I look forward to sharing the experience with all the gifted and talented ladies worldwide who will be a part of this year’s Appliqué Academy.

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