Wendy Butler Berns is a quilt artist, teacher, and lecturer from Lake Mills in southern Wisconsin. Fabric and sewing have been a part of Wendy’s life for 43 years, ever since fourth grade 4-H.

Wendy found her passion for quilting in 1993 and since 1997, she has taught and lectured about the art of quilting regionally and nationally. Her work appears regularly in juried shows and galleries as well as private collections across the country.

Wendy’s quilts are noted for their bold use of color, unusual fabrics, and a combination of unconventional techniques.  Quilt designs are original and they fluctuate between traditional with a twist and contemporary art quilts.. They are inspired by her desire to capture the colorful yet changing world around her-whether it be a garden landscape, an endearing family member or a statement of how we must act as role models for our children to cultivate greater compassion and preserve our natural world’s future

She delves into all aspects of quilting: teaching workshops, lecturing about the art of quilting, designing original work for entry into local and national shows and displaying work for sale in various galleries. Quilts of hers appear in six to ten juried shows each year including venues like International Quilt Association and The National Quilting Association.

For almost 45 years, Cathie Hoover has been quilting and designing wearable art for herself, her family, and for others. She has just about done all there is to do in the world of fabric, quilting and wearable art. Her specialties include machine appliqué, decorative machine embellishment, wearable art design and a wide range of piecing and quilt construction techniques. Cathie’s goal is to help her students realize their potential as fabric artists regardless of their skill level. A workshop with Cathie will empower each student enough knowledge and confidence to continue experimentation beyond the classroom. Cathie lives in Modesto, CA.

Marsha McCloskey is well known throughout the quilting world. A graphic arts major in college, she turned from printmaking to quiltmaking in 1969 as motherhood made the messier media impractical. Marsha sold her earliest quilting efforts at the weekly Saturday Market in Eugene, Oregon. She found that the more quilts, potholders and baby blocks she sold, the more she had to make to replace them. She developed her skills as a seamstress and fabric artist through such daily practice. She made patchwork gift items for craft fairs and gift shops in the Northwest and California for many years. In 1975 Marsha began to teach quiltmaking at her local quilt store. Since then she has taught classes and workshops for groups in the Seattle area where she lived for many years, as well as for conferences and quilt guilds in 40 different states (so far!) throughout the USA. In 1990 she taught her first international workshop in Australia. Since then she has been invited to teach in New Zealand, Holland, Belgium, France, Canada, Japan, England, Norway and Denmark.

Marsha specializes in Feathered Star designs. Her quilts have a traditional look, yet are an inspiration to quilters of every sort. Her exceptional sense of color encourages others to branch out into new color schemes and fabric uses. Marsha's designs for multi-fabric, rotary-cut and machine-pieced quilts can all be made by the average quilter.

Her first book, Small Quilts was published in 1981 and is the book that countless quilters used to make their very first quilts. Since then she has written or co-authored over twenty books on quiltmaking. Today, Marsha continues to make and design quilts, write quilt books, travel and teach. Her recent books include, Blended Quilts, written with co-author Sharon Yenter(2002) , Feathered Star Quilt Blocks I(2003), and Blended Quilts II (2004).

Marsha has her own small publishing company called Feathered Star Productions, Inc., and is the designer of of quilting fabrics under the Clothworks label and In the Beginning Fabrics.

Velda Newman is an internationally recognized contemporary quilt artist, author and lecturer from Northern California. Known for her large scale, mostly organic designs, Velda creates original quilts of exceptional beauty and craftsmanship. For the past 18 years Velda's work has appeared in many national and international exhibitions and has been featured in over 30 publications, including Quilter's Newsletter and Threads magazine. She lives in Northern California and is the mother of 4 and the grandmother of 10.

Mary is an internationally recognized quiltmaker, fashion designer, instructor, lecturer, and quilt show judge who has authored a cookbook, six quilt books and a DVD, "Mary Stori Teaches You Beading On Fabric". Her newest book is "Embellishing With Felted Wool". Mary was named 2004 Teacher of the Year by the Professional Quilter.

She has written extensively and had work appear in scores of quilt magazines and publications. Her award winning work has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally. She's appeared on HGTV's "Simply Quilts" and "Sew Perfect" several times. An entire episode of Fon's & Porter's "Love of Quilting" featured her beaded quilts. She designed the Mary Stori Collection for Kona Bay Fabrics, and her own line of stencils for Quilting Creations.

Her work is often humorous, generously embellished, and displays fine hand quilting. She loves the challenge of creating one-of-akind quilts and fashions. Traveling worldwide to present lectures and workshops keeps her motivated!