There’s no question that you are in for a treat! With thirty teachers overall, and five international teachers, Quilt Canada 2012 will offer opportunities for learning that you won’t find anywhere else in Canada.
Let us introduce you to this exciting group of five teachers – Jo Diggs, Norah McMeeking, Barbara Olson and Anita Shackelford from the United States, and Sandra Meech from the United Kingdom. Each of these well known teachers will offer you something just a little bit different.
Jo Diggs
Hailing from Maine, Jo Diggs has created appliqué landscapes for over thirty years and has been teaching art for even longer. Her multi-layered landscapes are truly special, imparting a sense of serenity, showing deep vistas lit by soft-colored light.
In her classes, Jo teaches her students how to design the same way that she does – free-cutting without using patterns. Her many years of practice at both creating her own work and teaching, ensure good outcomes for class participants. Jo is dedicated to sharing information and making her students successful.
Norah McMeeking
It was love at first sight when Norah McMeeking met her first sewing machine in Mrs. Regan ‘s Home Ec class. Some years later, when she encountered her first quilts at the Chicago Art Institute, she knew she had found her calling. Trained as a graphic artist at the Rhode Island School of Design, quilting was the perfect outlet for her skills in design and sewing.
Now living in California, Norah has taught quilt making at her local community college. To hone her quilting skills, she has studied extensively and shares that knowledge of art quilts and patchwork through her books, patterns and quilt classes.
Sandra Meech
Sandra Meech is originally from Ontario, Canada and is now living and working in the United Kingdom. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art, Sandra later trained in stitched textiles in the U.K. and now shares her knowledge and skills through her teaching.
Contemporary quilts have become her preferred form of expression, drawing on her training in art and graphic design as well as her love of photography. Recent themes in her work have included the Arctic landscape, urban life behind walls, and more recently, the effects of global warming on forests and woodlands. Sandra’s works have achieved an international presence through public museums and private collections, as well as numerous exhibitions worldwide.
Barbara Olson
For the last 18 years, Barbara Olson has delivered workshops and lectures that help quilters expand their creative talents. Her classes are fun and dynamic and offer wonderful techniques that excite her students. Her unique art quilts have been featured in numerous publications and are included in corporate and private collections across the country. One of Barbara’s art quilts In The Beginning was chosen as one of the 100 Best American Quilts of the Century. Barbara is the author of a cutting edge art quilt publication, “Journey of an Art Quilter Creative Strategies & Techniques”.
Anita Shackelford
Anita Shackelford has been a quilt maker for more than 40 years. In 1980, she began to share her quilting skills through teaching. Today, she is an internationally recognized teacher and lecturer who loves combining appliqué and fine hand quilting to create new quilts in 19th century style. She also enjoys using her sewing machine for many parts of the creative process and has recently added longarm quilting to the mix. Anita has been featured in magazines, books and in quilt-related television programs. Her award-winning quilts have been featured in galleries and museum exhibits in North America, Australia and Japan.
And now you ask -what classes will they be teaching? That’s a very good question! The list of classes is not public just yet but will be soon. You can subscribe to the blog to ensure you are the first to know the classes that are available, or check back in the fall when the registration information for Quilt Canada 2012 is published.
What we can tell you now is that you will have some amazing classes to choose from!
Till next time.
