All posts by Mancuso Shows
Calling all Star Lovers to Quiltfest New Jersey
Nancy Murtie, who believes quilting should be effortless and fun will present For Lovers or Stars at the Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey on Thursday, March 3 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.
In Nancy’s workshop you will make a wall hanging featuring the star
Marianne Fons designed for Eleanor Burns’ new book All Star Quilts. You will learn the easy, time saving techniques used by Marianne and Eleanor. Nancy’s version of this quilt features striped border fabric. Nancy has also developed an easy mitered corner technique that will be taught in class. A step-by-step demonstration of how to create Eleanor’s new feather star will be given. This feather star has no set in seams and is as easy as the Bear’s Paw block. This workshop is great for beginner and intermediate level quilters.
The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey is generously sponsored by Brother/Rock, Paper, Scissors; BERNINA of America/Olde City Quilts, ABM Innova/Olde City Quilts, BabyLock/Pocono Sew & Vac, Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac, Handi Quilter, Pocono Sew & Vac, Pfaff/Above & BeyondCreative Sewing; and Sew Batik.
Create a Fabric Postcard at Quiltfest New Jersey
Janneke Van der Ree’s fabric post card workshop at the Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey, March 3-6, 2016 will be held on Friday, March 4 from 9:00am to 12:00pm.
After picking a theme, you will design and construct your own personal postcards. Have fun with your scraps and embellishments and then finish these cards with fun quilting and decorative edge stitching. You will go home with your one-of-a-kind postcards. You can keep them for yourself, give them away or actually mail them to your friends. This is a great class for beginning quilters. For more details and to sign up for the class, click here.
Janneke Van der Ree has a very Dutch name because she was born
in the Netherlands. Growing up she was a typical Dutch craftsy child who always wanted to become a teacher. She graduated college with a specialty in textile arts and drawing.
After only a few years of teaching, she moved to England with her husband and took sewing classes to get to know people. There she discovered that sewing (clothes) was not for her, but she loved the fellow artists she met and the socializing. For that reason, she took up quilting when she moved to the USA 20 years ago.
She learned all the basics from traditional Pennsylvanian and Lancaster quilters. Janneke then tried to combine their craftsmanship with her Dutch whimsical craft sense.
She never lost the teacher inside herself and continues to love to teach adults as well as children to quilt and express themselves through the arts. She strives to learn new techniques and ways of making joyful pieces of fabric art.
The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey is generously sponsored by Brother/Rock, Paper, Scissors; BERNINA of America/Olde City Quilts, ABM Innova/Olde City Quilts, BabyLock/Pocono Sew & Vac, Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac, Handi Quilter, Pocono Sew & Vac, Pfaff/Above & BeyondCreative Sewing; and Sew Batik.
*** Janneke will also be presenting Youth (ages 6-11) Workshops at the Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey! Click Here for More Information!
Ever think of entering your quilt in a competition?
Ever think of entering your quilt in a competition?
Well, if you have, you 5 Days until the Northeast Quilt Competition Competition Entry Deadline
Northeast Quilt Competition: Entry Deadline Monday, February 1, 2016
The Northeast Competition is open to residents of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine only.
To enter the Northeast Quilt Competition, please click below:
Enter your Quilt Online or View a Printable Entry Form.
From the 2015 Competition:
Best of New Jersey Award:
#8043 Felicity aka Spargo-esque by Jo Timko
Quiltfest funnies
M-AQF Competition Countdown
This is it! … just 1 Day until the M-AQF Competition Entry Deadline
Quilt & Wearable Art Competition Deadline: January 26, 2016
To enter, please click below:
Enter your Quilt Online or View a Printable Entry Form.
Enter your Competition Garment Online or View a Printable Entry Form
From the 2015 Competitions:
Best of Show:
Big Bertha by Margaret Solomon Gunn
Best of Show:
Circle Game 1957 by Marty R Ornish
Founding Sponsor BERNINA/Nancy’s Calico Patch; Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Tidewater Sew-Vac; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/All Brands, Janome/Sew E-Z, and Husqvarna Viking/Bella Fabrics; and Silver Sponsors ABM International / Innova and Handi Quilter generously sponsor the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.
For complete M-AQF details, including pre-registration, workshop and lecture information, please visit quiltfest.com.
A Fabric Workshop to “Dye” For in NJ
“Dyed Fabrics are good for everything!”
~ Lisa White Reber
For 20 years, Lisa White Reber has been dyeing fabrics. “What’s amazing is that you start out with a plain white piece of fabric and end up with an amazing piece of art,” Lisa said in an interview with Quiltfest. After years of reading books and watching television programs about dyeing, Lisa’s once casual hobby turned her into a, “passionate dyer.”
Lisa will be teaching her full day workshop, “Painterly Effects with Various Thicknesses of MX Dyes” on Saturday, March 5 at The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey. “My class is technique-driven,” Lisa explains, “we will cover the basics of MX dyes on cotton fabric and mixing thickened dye in different consistencies and strengths.” Students in the workshop will then experiment with different marks made on fabric by different brushes and palette knives. Lisa continues, “You’ll go home with at least 20 samples, plus handouts to help you remember how you got there. You can use them in your quilts or as a starting point for further exploration. I strongly recommend note-taking as you go, plus taking pictures.”
While not a prerequisite, this year’s dye class will incorporate some of the work from Lisa’s MX Dye class at the last Quiltfest of New Jersey. “Last year’s class explored four different ways to use thickened dyes, but it was all the same thickness. That was great for screen printing, but thick dye really doesn’t flow.” Students will spend the day thinning out dye to see how it handles and how the results differ from a thicker dye. “In Art History terms,” Lisa proclaims, “part of the definition of painterly is non-linear.”
For more information of Lisa’s Workshop, click here.
The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey is generously sponsored by Brother/Rock, Paper, Scissors; BERNINA of America/Olde City Quilts, ABM Innova/Olde City Quilts, BabyLock/Pocono Sew & Vac, Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac, Handi Quilter, Pocono Sew & Vac, Pfaff/Above & BeyondCreative Sewing; and Sew Batik.
Create Hexagons at Quiltfest New Jersey
Maria Tamaoka’s workshop at the Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey, March 3-6, 2016 at the Garden State Exhibit Center will help you create a hexagon mat to fit in a mini tray that is provided in the class kit. This workshop, Hexagon Mini Tray, was a sell-out at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in 2015!
Maria started her quilt shop, Pinwheels in 1991. Since then, she has been recognized as the “Taupe Lady” specializing in Daiwebo Taupe fabric. Her kits, patterns and projects incorporate many unique materials and techniques, which Maria finds throughout her travels in Japan and Europe.
Maria’s Hexagon Mini Tray workshop is from 9:00am to 12:00pm on Thursday, March 3. All levels of quilters will experience the success of English paper piecing while making a simple “mat” for this tray. Daiwabo fabric is included in the class kit, and, of course, so is the tray. To sign up, please click here.
The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey is generously sponsored by Brother/Rock, Paper, Scissors; BERNINA of America/Olde City Quilts, ABM Innova/Olde City Quilts, BabyLock/Pocono Sew & Vac, Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac, Handi Quilter, Pocono Sew & Vac, Pfaff/Above & BeyondCreative Sewing; and Sew Batik.
Quiltfest Funnies
Thursday @ Mid-Atlantic
Thursday, February 25 is a great day to enjoy a workshop at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. We have several suggestions: Twist & Shout with instructor Anna Hergert, Vikki Pignatelli’s Crazy About Curves workshop, or So Square taught by Gyleen Fitzgerald.
Anna Hergert is the 2014 Canadian Quilters Association Teacher of 
the Year! Anna’s classes earn rave reviews, so you should take this opportunity to study quilting with this outstanding instructor. Anna’s Thursday Mid-Atlantic workshop is Twist & Shout. In this design class, you will journey from realism to abstraction and produce one-of-a-kind tessellated designs. Get ready for the “WOW” effect! Click here for complete workshop details.
Vikki Pignatelli is known for her flowing designs and passion for
color–as well as breaking all quilting “rules. Vikki’s Thursday workshop, Crazy About Curves, is “No Rules, No Stress, All Fun!” Students will quickly master Vikki’s technique that is a combination piecing/appliqué method of creating even sharp curves and narrow points effortlessly and with precision! For workshop details, please click here.
Gyleen Fitzgerald’s Thursday workshop, So Square, is perfect for the
beginning quilter. Squares and rectangles do all the work as students create a visually stunning graphic and modern quilt. Click here for complete workshop details.
The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival is generously sponsored by BERNINA of America/Nancy’s Calico Patch Brother/Tidewater Sew-Vac; Baby Lock/All Brands, Janome/Sew E-Z, Juki, Husqvarna Viking/Bella Fabrics, Juki, ABM International / Innova, Handi Quilter, Sew Batik and Intelliquilter.
Important Reminder: The pre-registration deadline for M-AQF is February 5, 2016. For those who miss this deadline registration will open, for available workshops and activities, at the quilt festival on Wednesday, February 25 at 3pm.