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Kim Diehl
Amy Maxfield
Carol Adams and Connie Cawley
Dana Brooks
Kaye Nielson
Jolene Hill
Mary Ann Nelson
Leslie Bergeson
Ruth Spendlove
Sandy Workman
Sherry Boren & Paula McKinlay
Vicki Lish and Wendy Nygren
With just the third quilt she’d ever made, self-taught quiltmaker Kim Diehl entered and won American Patchwork & Quilting magazine’s “Pieces of the Past” quilt challenge in 1998. This win took her life down a new and unexpected path, and with her fourth quilt, Kim began publishing her original designs. With her new-found hobby quickly blossoming into a career, Kim realized that she needed to complete her quilts more quickly to meet her ever increasing deadlines. Although she loved using traditional needle-turn methods to hand stitch her appliqué designs, Kim began experimenting with invisible machine appliqué. She soon developed a technique that enabled her to machine-stitch her appliqués in a fraction of the time, and she was delighted to find that they had the appearance of being hand sewn -- Kim has seldom needle-turned a seam since! In 2004, Kim began partnering with Martingale & Company to share her "tradition with a twist" quilting designs and time-saving techniques through her books. To date, she's authored four titles in her best-selling “Simple” series, and her fifth book, Simple Graces, is currently in the works and due for release in November of 2010. The opportunity to begin designing fabrics for Henry Glass in 2008 enabled Kim to combine her love of richly-hued prints with her “scrap-basket” approach to quilt making, and her designs reflect this. “My goal is for my fabric designs to work together beautifully without looking as though they were created together. What could be more fun than designing a quilt, and then creating the fabrics to bring it alive?” This endeavor has been especially rewarding for Kim, because she has no formal artistic training and she loves seeing where her natural instincts lead her.
Amy Maxfield is one of the partners of HQNA, Winterfest. She looks forward to January every year for the “big quilting getaway”! She is the mother of four boys and two daughters. Amy started quilting when she was 19 and looking for a hobby. She began with hand-piecing at Mormon Handicraft, and it’s been her hobby now for over 20 years.
Carol Adams and Connie Cawley, longtime friends and quilters, find quilting soothes the soul. Their pattern company, Two Peas in a Pod, had it’s beginnings at Winterfest! They can be found designing, piecing, and quilting year round, but in January they can only be found at Winterfest!
Dana Brooks is still busy with the shop, Lazy Daisy Cottage in St. George, Utah. This year has been busy traveling on the road, taking the shop to surrounding states, and included a trip to Houston, Texas. Dana is keeping up with all the new fabrics, textures, and designs, which this year included the – BAKE SHOP - with turnovers, jelly rolls, honey buns and layer cakes – which all still remain fat free. Says Dana, “There’s still nothing like a gooey, hot chocolate chip cookie which, of course, is not fat free!”
Kaye Neilson says, “After all these years, I still love quilting! I started doing handwork as a young girl, and learned to sew at a summer 4-H group. I am so grateful to have found quilting, for there I have made lifelong friendships, learned many new skills and I can continue to share my passion through my shop, Red Rooster Quilts and Treasures. I now have an empty nest, except for my dog Frank, who has become a ‘greeter’ at my shop. I have also been expanding other horizons – for I have a blog and an iPod! Life is good.”
Jolene Hill is excited to teach at Winterfest again this year. Her passion for quilting grows by the pattern! She enjoys teaching classes and is not afraid to create, change or experiment when making quilts. She especially loves being surrounded by fellow addicts as it somehow makes her feel a bit more “normal”! Jolene has 1 daughter and son-in-law, 3 sons, and a wonderful husband who fully supports her habit.
Mary Ann Nelson has been quilting for 9 years. “Like many of you it is my therapy. I love to quilt, piece (especially miniature quilts), machine quilt, knit, crochet, and appliqué. I am a manager at the Corn Wagon Quilt Company. I have taught various quilt classes for 7 years. I live with my husband, Stuart, in Springville, Utah. I have 4 children and a new son-in-law; Cassie, Craig, Josh, Hunter and Parker Ann.”
Leslie Bergeson began piecing as therapy while raising a family of 5 rowdy boys. The therapy continues as the boys left home, married and she and her husband are 'Home Alone' . Traditional look quilts are a favorite with reproduction fabrics, plaids and stripes among her most prized fabrics. She is always busy increasing the size of her "stash" and finishing one project so she can begin another, which doesn't always work in that order....Leslie has been teaching classes for almost 30 years which simply cannot be since she is only 32!
Ruth Spendlove designed and pieced her first quilt in 1976 for a Bicentennial quilt contest, but it took Leslie Bergeson’s trunk show to get her really excited. She has been quilting for 20 years now, which means she has more works in progress than anyone else. She is eternally indebted to her wonderful son, Ben, who does this website for her every year.
Sandy Workman began doing needlework as a young girl and has enjoyed creating her own designs since opening their store, Pine Needles at Gardner Village, in 1996. She lives in Draper, Utah with her husband, Randy, and their daughter, Kaylee, where she operates her pattern company Pine Mountain Designs.
Sherry Boren and Paula McKinlay are not only neighbors and quilting buddies, but also cousins. Sherry is an amazing teacher and loves needle turn appliqué. She is the mother to 4 sons, wife to 1 husband and grandmother to 8 grandchildren. Paula loves everything about quilting. Paula is wife to 1 darling husband who supports her "habit", mother to 5 and grandmother to 4 with two more on the way. We love teaching at Daniel's!
Vicki Lish and Wendy Nygren met at Thimbles and Threads when their mutual love of quilting brought them to start working there. Since that time, Vicki has moved to Oakley, and Wendy is now working at Pine Needles. Besides quilting, they both have grandbabies to love, and enjoy scrapbooking also.