GYLEEN FITZGERLAD | Grand Rapids 2017 Instructor Gyleen Fitzgerald makes quilts that blend color, pattern, and texture to provide a contemporary essence in traditional quilting. Her strength as a quilter is demonstrated by the infusion of engineering tools and innovative techniques to simplify visually complex quilts. She shares her enthusiasm for quilting through interactive lectures and workshops.

An avid quilter, Gyleen has earned best of show honors. She is also a prolific writer, with published books of Haiku poetry, quilt project books, magazine articles, and children’s books. As a writer-publisher, she is a Gold Medal winner for Quilts: Unfinished Stories with New Endings (2008). She is best known for the inspiring Trash to Treasure Pineapple Quilts (2010) and the creation of the Pineapple Tool by Gyleen. Her book Polygon Affair…So Easy You’ll Fall in Love (2014) explores her fascination with polygons, made easier with her polygon tools. Gyleen has appeared on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims and Lifetime TV. See more at www.colourfulstitches.com.

To view Gyleen’s classes CLICK HERE

SALLY MANKE  | Grand Rapids 2017 Instructor Fiber art was Sally Manke’s passion long before it was called fiber art. Retired from teaching home economics and art at the high school level for 25 years, she designs original art quilts with a wide variety of techniques using artistic expression and precise technical quilting skills. As a national-award-winning quilter, Sally teaches at quilt shops, guilds, and art centers in addition to maintaining an Etsy shop. Although she enjoys crafting traditional quilts, her perfect day is one spent in her home studio with fabric spread far and wide, creating confetti art. Each confetti quilt has thousands and thousands of tiny bits of batik fabric “painted” on batting and backing. From her home in Arcadia, Michigan, she visits coastlines, trails, and farmlands during all four seasons for inspiration to create these fiber art quilts.

To view Sally’s classes CLICK HERE

BONNIE LANGENFELD  | Grand Rapids 2017 Instructor Award-winning fiber artist Bonnie Langenfeld uses thread painting and raw-edge appliqué techniques to create realistic fabric pictures. Her subjects are primarily landscapes, but she often includes people and animals among her subjects. She never adds paint or marker to her pieces but carefully chooses tiny parts of commercial fabrics, glues or fuses them together, and adds dozens of colors of machine-stitched threads to create depth, accentuate details, and make her work come to life. Bonnie’s professional history includes numerous art shows, awards, and membership in galleries in Florida and Minnesota. Her proudest accomplishments, and the ones that are the most fun, are teaching her techniques to adults and children. She focuses on the elements of art so that students can use those skills in other pieces. “Everyone will be successful!” is her motto. Please take a look at some of her recent work at www.landscapesinfabric.com.

To view Bonnie’s classes CLICK HERE