Previous Speakers featured by BVQ
January 13, 2026
Rachael Daisy Dodd - Embracing Maximalism (zoom)
Dive into the world of Maximalism through a showing of the quilts by Australian quilter, Rachael Daisy Dodd! Join us for an insightful exploration of this artist’s bold and vibrant quilting style and learn about the elements of Maximalist quilting. Rachaeldaisy is known for her fearless use of color, texture, and patterns, creating quilts that stand out for their maximalist approach.
December 9, 2025
Holiday Party - everyone should bring an appetizer or dessert, two fat quarters wrapped up and your own beverage. Get ready to have fun, food and quilty conversation! Please consider bringing a food donation for the University's Knight's Pantry Program!
November 11, 2025
Mac Cox of MA Couture Crafting presented “How to Zhuzh Up a 3-Yard Quilt” - a creative exploration of transforming a simple 3-yard quilt into a personalized masterpiece. Mac shared her signature techniques for adding flair—by selecting and swapping fabrics, dyeing, or adorning with unique embellishments. She gave us insight into elevating our quilts from ordinary to extraordinary with a few imaginative tweaks and bold choices.
She facilitated a workshop on November 12 for hands on experience.
October 14, 2025
My Quilt Journey
Kiley Ferons talked about her journey in the quilting industry and how her business has evolved over the past decade. She talked about her book, "Modern Day Quilter" and showed quilts and projects from the book. She shared details about the app that she and her husband created and how they worked together to create something for the quilting community. Kiley also brought her book and patterns to sell.
September 9, 2025
Sharon K Huffstetler, owner of Vintage Reflections discussed the history of sewing machines in a very entertaining way, sharing the history of the American sewing machine from the earliest ideas of a sewing machine to the machines we know and love today. She shared a lovely array of her quilts with us.
June 10, 2025
Find your U-F-Flow
Because we all have a collection of Unfinished Objects in our own personal Area 51, Becca Fenstermaker from Sugar and Sand Quilt Company presented a lecture as an inspiration to think through the whys, whats, and hows of getting those UFOs organized and finished. Becca walked us through the UFO Prevention Toolkit, which includes her own UFO decision-making flowchart and a project organizer to keep track of every step of a quilt’s journey.
May 13, 2025
The speaker Kestral Michaud spoke about the growing use of "AI" generated art in the quilting community and showed us some of the amazing quilts she has made using the platform. AI generated art is a new technology that has taken the world by storm. Yet this new method of quickly creating works of art is controversial to say the least. In this lecture, she discussed:
- What AI generated art is
- How AI art is made
- What the wider art community thinks about AI art
- The controversy surrounding AI art generators
- Challenges facing the quilting community due to AI art
- Kestrel's recommendation for ethically using AI art
March 11, 2025
Nancy Hershberger is an Art Quilter and instructor in rural Pennsylvania. She explained her methods of creativity using fabric, thread and a little bit of inks and shared many of her pieces. Nancy talked about her journey from traditional pieced quilts to landscape artwork. Since 2018 she has been artist in residence at eight national parks.
November 12, 2024
Swaps, Bees & Raffles: The Joy of Group Projects
If you've ever assembled a group quilt, it may not have brought you much joy! But Tina Craig of Seaside Stitches changed that for us as she shared some of her favorite group quilts (and some that are not so great) and discussed tips, tricks and best practices for group quilt success.
September 10, 2024
Sashiko
Needles and Bolts Quilt Shop presented a program on Sashiko. Stella and her team presented a lecture on the history of Sashiko and provided (for a small fee) small kits for everyone to try it out. With just a small pair of scissors that we brought from home, we were delighted with the ease and beauty of our practice creations. Sure to be a technique favorite for many! There were kits available for guests, the price was included in the guest fee.
July 9, 2024
All Scrapped Out!
Penni Domikis is the founder of Cabin in The Woods Quilters, a quilting company that offers patterns, kits, and tutorials.
All Scrapped Out! was a demonstration by Penni of how to make a masterpiece out of yourunruly collection of scraps without pre-cutting or pre-pressing your fabrics. There is no need for pre-cut sizes. Penni shared how to step away from the cutting table and ironing board and just begin sewing. There is no need to purchase special rulers… you will use YOUR rulers. There is no need to cut into your stash of yardage… you will use YOUR scraps and turn them into something spectacular. Using just a few rules of experience Penni shared how to make “free” quilts with all those leftovers others throw away.
June 11, 2024 (Rescheduled from February 2024)
Trunk Show
Andrea Hokeshared many of her quilts - “Modern Traditionalist” best describes Andrea’s style. She loves all things vintage, which we saw reflected in her work. The exploding online quilting community has only fueled her passion for quilting, and as a result, she has “more quilts in her brain than she will ever be able to stitch in this lifetime!” It was obvious that Andrea enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience and delights in introducing sewing and quilting to others.
April 9, 2024
Terry Liebermann
Don't Stitch in My Ditch.
Terry discussed techniques, ideas and inspiration for every skill level on how you can go beyond stitching in the ditch to make your quilt sing.
March 12, 2024
Befriending Colors
During this lecture Carolina Oneto talked about different topics related to color that will help to create a unique color palette for your next quilt creation. Some of the topics discussed during this lecture were the chromatic circle and the three variables of color. Also, she showed five different color schemes that can be used to create your color palette. Understanding these and a few other topics broadened our knowledge to follow four simple steps to create your unique color palette that was summarized in her lecture.
You can find her on Instagram @carolina_oneto
November 14, 2023
Lois Mease is a quilter from Bethlehem, PA. She started quilting over 30 years ago, learning from the ladies in a church quilting circle. Precision patchwork and hand quilting were the values she learned. Lois turned her love of quilting into an annual retreat at Camp Hope, making quilts to support the work of that Moravian camping ministry and nurturing the quilting skills of dozens of women. After many years of making quilts for family, friends and charity, Lois purchased a longarm quilting machine in 2016 and started her business, River Lawn Quilting. She quilts with hand-guided free motion. Starting that business led to a quilting business class with Shannon Brinkley. There, Lois learned that she could be certified to teach Shannon’s curriculum of Color Confidence for Quilters. She started teaching classes by Zoom in 2020
Program Description:
Color Confidence teaches quilters about hue, color harmony, and balance. In addition to the science of color, this program helps quilters tune in to their intuitive artist. There are exercises to train our eyes to distinguish subtle differences in color, value, and saturation. This program is practical, concrete, and fun. It is appropriate for quilters who have no idea how to use a color wheel and only trust themselves to use precuts. It is also helpful for quilters with a great eye for color who are looking to create more interesting, dynamic palettes and develop a signature style. And it will be good for everyone in between! A trunk show demonstrated how color principles are used in quilts.
October 10, 2023
Rachel Rossi is a creator of sewing and quilting patterns operating out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Originally from rural Pennsylvania, Rachel attended Harrington College of Design in Chicago, Illinois. She now holds an Associates of Applied Science in Interior Design, graduating with highest honors in 2013. Rachel’s designs are clean, modern, and simple. Her patterns are easy to understand for beginners and streamlined for masters. Her collection of patterns range from quilts to aprons to home decor. She presented a trunk show and had items for sale from her online store.
September12, 2023
Kevin Devine is a local quilter and a member of the Philadelphia Modern Quilt Guild. He is a very talented long arm quilter and designer of his own unique quilts. He shared some of his works as well as talked about his journey as a quiltmaker. (He is also the cousin of BVQ member Shirley LeClerc).
July 11, 2023 (in person)
Rebecca Penniston is an artist who creates outside of the box quilted and sewn items, as well as custom designed note cards and other crafts. She has published several bird patterns under the brand of RazBeca's Birds. Becky shared her applique and design techniques through a slide show and actual pieces (in process and finished) while entertaining us with stories about her wonky birds. You can view & purchase her wonky bird patterns through her RazBeca Etsy store at https://RazBeca.etsy.com or visit her Facebook page at https://Facebook.com/RazBeca
June 13, 2023 (in person)
Joanne Shropshire presented a trunk show of quilts that show her journey in quilting. Joanne was a member of BVQ before she moved to South Carolina. She runs a longarm business and is active in her local quilt guild.
April 11, 2023 (via Zoom)
Sustainability in Quilting
Kim Soper of Feel Good Fibers was our speaker. Kim talked about the small changes that we can make to be more sustainable in our quilting practices. She discussed upcycling, recycling, choosing environmentally friendly materials, and modifying our purchasing habits, as well as what some third-party certifications mean, such as GOTS, OEKO-TEX and Standard 100. BVQ also hosted a workshop on April 15, 2023. This was a large Group Declutter Mini-Workshop. This 2-hour workshop started by talking about different ways to tackle sewing room clutter and mindsets to overcome blocks. Participants sorted, stored, and organized their sewing spaces with opportunities each hour to ask questions specific to their space. Decluttering as a group was a fun way to support each other, share progress, and create space for new projects.
November 8, 2022 (via Zoom)
Tina Curran shared her interest in making art quilts. Her art quilts have been on display in multiple art shows and quilt shows as well as in national quilt magazines ("Quilters Newsletter" magazine and "Quiltmaker") over 20 times and in three books (including Ricky Tims' "Kool Kaleidoscopes"). Having had no formal art training, she has taken some wonderful classes over the years. Her greatest learning has come in the over 10,000 hours that she has spent making more than 125 art quilts to date. She sells her quilts and quilt patterns online in shop on Etsy.com. They have been sold to quilt collectors and quilters in all 50 U.S. states as well as in 30 foreign countries (and counting).
For information on making a purchase or discussing a commission, she can be contacted at tina@tinacurran.com
Tina held a workshop on November 19 for her "California Poppies" quilt.
October 11, 2022 (via Zoom)
Give it a Scrap Slap
Beth Helfter of Eva Paige Quilts gave us a look inside her year-long stint as a member of the 2014 Quiltmaker Magazine “Scrap Squad,” a select group of quilters tasked with recreating an assigned design from each issue entirely of scraps. She shared with us the "original" quilt that was "remade" using scraps - and what a difference it was!
September 13, 2022 (in person)
What Makes a Quilter Tick?
At our first "in person" event since Covid restrictions Dave Sirota - The Quilt Maven presented a laugh-out-loud and interactive look at ourselves as quilters. The little quirks, passions, idiosyncrasies, and obsessions we all share were brought to light. We were able to hold a mirror up to ourselves to help us see what others see when they look at us. “What Makes a Quilter Tick?” helped explain to us why non-quilters look at us the way they do.
April 12, 2022 (via Zoom)
Now You See It, Now You Don’t...The Magic of Disappearing Blocks
In this presentation Brita Nelson spoke about the magic and beauty of disappearing blocks with an interactive online lecture, demo and trunk show. Using 3 cameras, one on Brita and the quilts, one pointing straight down at the cutting mat, and one close-up on the quilts, she was able to show us how easy it is to turn simple blocks into beautiful complex patterns. Using the Zoom format, she answered during the presentation. She also showed us how different block designs can be enhanced by color choices or slight modifications to make even more interesting full quilts.
March 8, 2022 (via Zoom)
Color Exploration and Special Occasion Quilts
Julia Graves shared how to select colors and fabrics that will sing in our quilts and give them that extra zing! She delved into how colors interact to create mood, depth, balance and movement. From using the color wheel to select successful eye-catching color combinations to tips on how to “fix” color combinations that aren’t quite what you had hoped…there was something for everyone in her lecture.
February 8, 2022 (via Zoom)
Anatomy of an Improv Quilt
Via Zoom from her studio in Virginia, Cindy Grisdela walked us through the process of creating a quilt without a pattern and shared her tips and tricks in an entertaining lecture about the process for working improvisationally from start to finish. Her work is stunning and her lecture helped us to expand our understanding of this approach to the art of quilt making.
January 11, 2022 (via Zoom)
Improv Paper Piecing
Amy Friend, a former museum curator turned designer shared her methods of improv paper piecing by showing us pictures of her quilts using this technique. She designs modern quilts and specializes in paper pieced designs. She authored the books Intentional Piecing (2016) and Improv Paper Piecing: A Modern Approach to Quilt Design (2017), and has a new book, Petal + Stem (2020). Since 2019, Amy has run a paper pieced Block of the Month program each year. She is an award winning quilter and her quilts have been exhibited at a number of quilt shows as well as museums. Amy is a national quilt teacher and lecturer. She was a very interesting speaker and inspired those who may not have previously considered modern quilts using paper piecing. Visit her website HERE.
November 9, 2021 (via Zoom)
Never Say “No”…or…”I Can’t”
Via Zoom, Diane L. Murtha presented an informative and humorous perspective on the challenges we face as quilters. Diane helped us to see the quilting adventure through her trunk show and lecture on her delusions of grandeur, some epic fails, a few triumphs, many “good enoughs” and most importantly getting to satisfying results! Her talk was warm and amusing and kept us all smiling. She inspired us to take on new challenges to expand our skills and to quilting adventures.
October 12, 2021 (via Zoom)
Quilts to a Tee: Using T-shirts and Unique Clothing in Quilts .
in this one-hour presentation Beth Sullivan provided inspiration and guidance for quilters who are thinking about tackling a T-shirt or memory quilt. Quilt samples and photos were used to show how quilters can expand the possibilities of the conventional T-shirt quilt to include anything that can be washed, sewn and made to lie flat. Using interesting items was a focal point of the lecture. In addition, the design and construction of a variable layout quilt was discussed as well as the use of partial seams in construction of unique quilt designs.
July 13, 2021 (via Zoom)
Stitching in Public
In addition to designing, teaching, and lecturing for guilds (both in-person and via ZOOM), Joy Duke is often found stitching in public (on the beach or around a competition swimming pool) and meets the nicest people who are curious about her stitching. These interactions lead her to create one of her most popular lectures/trunk shows entitled "Stitching in Public" - Joy shared a fun trunk show coupled with the funny things and advise people have shared with her while she is stitching.
June 8, 2021 7-9PM EST (via Zoom)
Barb Eikmeier shared a series of quilts and tops that feature blocks set with sashings and cornerstones. Some are simple and others are more involved with secondary designs created with sashings and cornerstones. She showed us side-by-side examples of the same setting to show how different they look based on the blocks and fabric choices. Filled with ideas and tips for turning your pile of blocks into finished quilts, this program featured approximately 35 quilts and tops in a mix of styles including pieced and appliqué quilts.
May 11, 2021 (via Zoom)
Why Didn’t You Show Me This a Long Time Ago?
Kathy Groves of Bobkat Quilts has been an educator for more than 35 years. She shared tips to save time and avoid trouble showing us simple steps to make some of the precise sewing processes run smoother for us. Her ability to identify the frustrating things in a process and provide confidence-building tips and tricks to master the craft kept was entertaining and informative.
April 13, 2021 (via Zoom)
Borders and Bindings, Old, and New!
Gloria Stickney of Sew Fabulous Quilts shared her latest refinement on her approach to FINISHING your quilt. Her presentation was all about bringing some new opportunities to the process and ways to GET IT DONE! Gloria started sewing at six years of age and has been professionally quilting since 2006. Gloria has been teaching quilting classes for 12 years and provided many guild demonstrations using the Square in a Square system. Her students are beginners through advanced quilters. She illustrated several intricate pieced blocks with speed and accuracy with her techniques.
March 9, 2021 (via Zoom)
"Aurifilosophy"
Karen Miller of Redbird Quilt Company joined us for "Aurifilosophy". She is an accomplished quilter using a domestic machine and teaches nationally and has her own Aurifil Thread Collection called The Subtle Sampler. Her presentation took us from cotton boll to wrapped spools to our machines.
January 12, 2021 (via Zoom)
Carol Lyles Shaw, a modern quilter, author, and teacher is a self-taught quilter who works in series. She has a minimalist approach and enjoys working with African prints. By playing with scale and curved piecing she has created some novel and interesting prize-winning projects. Carol’s philosophy is to “play” with your quilting to discover what YOU like - to start without an end in sign and work to the end. By identifying what you love, you can build your own palette and manage your fabric buying with a focus. Carol shared her talents with her virtual trunk show and her delightful insights.