Quilting Teachers

Robin Gartner, Patchwork teacher.

Sewing has always been part of my life. I cannot remember my first efforts at hand sewing, but I do remember the joy of being allowed to use my Mother's precious hand turned ,chain stitch machine. Like so many of my generation I made all my own clothing (until Patchwork took over). As a new mother I used the scraps from my children's clothes to make "rugs" which were indeed primitive quilts.

In 1985 some friends suggested attending a Hand Craft course at the local TAFE. This is where I attended my first quilting lesson. Very soon I was hooked. In 1990 I began teaching in a small craft shop in Wauchope NSW. Before long the Wauchope Patchwork Group was up and running.It was with this wonderful group that I gained most of my teaching experience. In 1994 I became an accredited teacher with the NSW Guild but at the same time my husband invested in a 7 day business which limited the time I could spend Patchworking. Consequently most of my teaching was within the group and with the beginners who joined us. After moving to WA in 2003 I was welcomed by the Rockingham Patchwork Group where I have been able to initiate group activities and projects.

As teachers of patchwork, I believe we must be vigilant in teaching skills and techniques that promote quality outcomes for students. I happily teach classes that focus on the basic skills, in the use of tools, cutting and sewing accurately,putting a quilt together with trams and borders, quilting and binding ,applique, both hand and machine. These skills may be taught with samples or incorporated in bags ,table runners or small quilts.

I also offer the following classes A Japanese table runner with sashiko, "Stack and Whack" kaleidoscope, Row by Row Sampler,Log Cabin, a Post and Rail with Nine Patch, a Christmas Tree Skirt.

Jocelyne Leath

I am an artist who loves to work with colour, fibres and textiles.  I appreciate the precision of traditional techniques whilst enjoying the freedom of a more contemporary style. I use a variety of materials and include many techniques to achieve my objective. Pictorial quilts present new challenges and new experiences which allows me to grow with each new project. Attention to detail and technical expertise are very important to me.

I teach a variety of techniques, including both hand and machine work, traditional and contemporary, and endeavour to pass on my skills and knowledge to promote a higher standard or work. My workshops are designed to cater for beginners through to advanced.

My current workshops cover the following:-

• Thread Painting / Free machine Embroidery
• Free Machine Applique
• Scenic Hand Applique
• Scenic Machine Applique
• Sketching, Drawing & Designing on fabric
• Portrait Quilts
• The Magic Touch - mixed media & the use of new products

I am happy to travel almost anywhere to teach. I can comply to specific requirements on request.
To view my work, please visit my website www.jocelyneleath.com

Jan Rowe – Karrinyup

Contact – janmrowe@westnet.com.au

Jan's quilts are inspired by nature and her travels. They display an eclectic range of techniques and use a variety of fabrics, traditional cottons and non-traditional synthetics. Each new quilt is seen as a challenge with a different set of problems to solve.

Alison Schwabe

I am an experienced teacher who enjoys teaching keen quilters.
I originally learned traditional quiltmaking; however, most of my quilts in the past 20 years have been original non-traditional designs inspired by landscape structures and textures.

My workshop teaching includes any and all of the techniques I use in my own quilt making, of which there are many images on my website at. www.alisonschwabe.com

My current classes cover one or several of the following topics:

• freehand rotary cutting and piecing
• irregular shaped piecing
• irregular shaped quilts
• creative hand quilting
• free machine quilting
• planning colour schemes with confidence (non sewing)
• simple traditional or original design ideas (through making scrap quilts)

Please contact me on for details of currently available workshops.

Via sample making and an actual quilt project, I teach simple techniques not requiring any special books or tools to be bought. Usually my requirements lists suggest fabrics, supplies and quilters notions that students already have at home. When assembling these lists I am conscious of how much fabric it is/not possible to sew up in a 6 hour class day, and so keep requirements to a minimum.

Sheila Pye

Contact –TBA

I enjoy sharing my love of patchwork and quilting with others and teaching has enabled me to do this.

Machine Quilting is my passion and I have been teaching workshops in this area since 1995. I recently took a break from teaching and am now delighted to announce my return to teaching in early 2012. My goal is excellence in machine work and teaching my students to improve their machine quilting skills.

I have always been interested in sewing and I taught sewing and craft to primary school children during the eighties. It was also in the eighties that I became involved in the design of church banners and liturgical dresses. During this time I received several commissions for this type of work which involved a great deal of satin stitch appliqué. I am told the banners I made are still hung in local Perth churches.

It was not until 1992 that I discovered Patchwork and Quilting and became hooked very quickly. I have made numerous quilts since that time in fact so many in the early days that I had to take up machine quilting in order to get my projects completed!

In 1995 I established my own business "That Heirloom Look" in which I specialized in designing quilts for clients and machine quilting orders for various people. As part of this business I was involved in teaching freelance and have taught at several leading patchwork shops in the Perth metropolitan area. I also gave many machine quilting demonstrations at craft and quilt fairs during the time my business operated. I reluctantly closed this business in 2005 because of my husband's ill health.
Since closing my business I have continued to teach a limited number of workshops privately and on a voluntary basis.

Others classes that I conduct besides machine quilting are trapunto by machine and machine applique. My teaching also involves hand work such as needle turn applique, reverse and Hawaiian applique. "Working with Wedges" is a new workshop covering the use of wedge rulers such as the Dresden Plate ruler. Spectacular quilts can be made using these rulers.

I continue to update my skills by attending workshops with local and interstate/international tutors when the opportunities arise.
Traveling throughout Western Australia teaching quilters of all skill levels is one of the things I enjoy very much.

Deb Bogert – Esperance

Contact –TBA