That's a Wrap!

Spent an amazing day last week at the Handi-Quilter headquarters in North Salt Lake, Utah, when Jodie Davis came to town to film episodes for her QNNtv.com online video show, Quilt it! 

with Amy van Gurp, Marie Ellertson, Jodie Davis, Coleen Barnhardt, Melissa Kruschwitz
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I was so happy to get to meet these amazing gals in the photo above!  Jodie Davis (center) is the host of the show, and author of over 35 books on quilting and crafting.  She calls herself a "Quilt Enabler", lol!  Jodie is also a rubber duckie designer and cuckoo clock designer.  True story!  See her website here:  ItsaRubberDuckieWorld.  And she is a darling host.  I had butterflies for my segment, but she assures me that they will work magic in the editing room!  Thank heaven for that!

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Amy van Gurp is from Prince Edward Island in Canada where she and her family have a hog farm with over 1000 hogs.  She is an educator for Handi-Quilter and has such a fun personality!  She is so engaging, and almost had me convinced I needed a new HQ Sweet 16 sit-down longarm... but she did persuade everyone to try the Ginger ice cream at dinner.  Yep, it was heavenly.  One of her quilts was featured in McCall's Quilting special issue of Heritage Quilts made Modern: Supernovae Broken Star.  You can follow Any's quilting adventures on her Facebook page.

Marie Eldredge has worked on the Educator team at Handi Quilter's Studio for the past 5 years.  She's an amazing quilter, and totally at ease in front of the camera.  Bubbly, full of laughter and you may recognize her on Handi Quilter instructional videos and previous episodes of Quilt It!.  Here's a sample of one of Marie's quilts for GenerationQ online magazine article, "Quilt as Desired".  Find more of Marie's fabulous quilting pics on her Instagram @marie_eldridge.

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Coleen Barnhardt began quilting only 1-1/2 years ago when she bought her new longarm machine.  (What?!)  She's a former Special Ed teacher and has a newfound passion for freehand machine quilting and coloring quilts.  She shares that passion on her blog, The Quilted Thistle, and has some fun YouTube tutorials.  Coleen is a member of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild and teaches classes at local shops in her area.  Listen in on a recent American Patchwork & Quilting Podcast<< with Pat Sloan.  See more of Coleen's amazing eye candy on Instagram @quiltedthistle.

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Melissa Kruschwitz lives in Florida and simply loves being able to assemble computerized quilting motifs to stitch out entire quilts with her Pro-Stitcher.  She teaches Pro-Stitcher training classes online and is starting a video series -  the "MK Way" of quilting.    I overheard Melissa's taping for a Handi-Quilter spotlight while I was sitting for makeup.  She was so adorable and charming.  I heard her say that she loves music and plays flute and sings in a choir back home -  she even mentioned her visit to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!   (Hey, I sing in that choir!)  Of course, we became immediate friends!  Find Melissa online: mkquilts.com, Facebook and YouTube. 

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And that was just one day's worth of filming!  Amazing, awe-inspiring and beautiful - those words could describe the women themselves as well as their display of talent and passion for their craft.  There are another eight presenters to fill out the season that were filmed this week.  I can't wait to watch everyone's Quilt It! episodes in the coming months!  Big thanks to the HQ crew for making this such a memorable experience.

Stay tuned!