Joanie considers each teaching event an opportunity to provide in-depth instruction on a technique and to encourage students to elevate standards in their work, leading them to realize their full potential. Her teaching style is friendly, knowledgeable, with confidence gained over many years of quilting. Each workshop is based on essential skills, innovative and timesaving techniques; providing a solid foundation to rely on for a lifetime.

Click on a category or scroll down the page to read the entire list.
  • Design Workshops (all quilting styles, any skill level, no machine)
  • Easy Machine Quilting (beginning level/sewing machine)
  • Heirloom Machine Quilting (intermediate skills/sewing machine)
  • Basic Quiltmaking Skills (all quilting styles, zigzag machine)
  • Recommendations from past students, shop owners & event coordinators   • Joanie's Short Biography (for brochures & lectures introductions)
  • Help in planning your event

Great quilts begin with a well thought out plan. Joanie brings a wealth of knowledge and many practical skills from 30 years of quilting, training in art and graphic design and her career as an interior decorator. Her design workshops include conceptualizing the quilts theme, working out details of the entire surface on graph paper, and creating full-size templates to fill it with meaningful imagery and background textures. Enjoy a relaxed, supportive atmosphere where each student is inspired to find the key to his or her own personal creative style. All experience levels, any quilting technique, no machines required.

Choosing and Adapting Quilting Designs, Full-day, hands-on Workshop
All quilters, any skill level

Plan for a day of fun and discovery creating your own quilting designs with Joanie’s easy paper template method! Using simple tools and skills from the art world, learn to manipulate almost any image, including stencils and paper patterns, to fill the quilt top with perfectly coordinating squares, triangles and multi-sized borders. Prior to class, each student constructs a small quilt top that is used to demonstrate how various spaces are divided and filled and to show a variety of marking procedures. After this class, you will never again be at a loss when your pattern suggests,“quilt as desired!”

My Sentimental Journey, One or Two-day Workshops

These workshops offer a truly creative look at filling the empty spaces a quilt by looking beyond the quilting world for sources of inspiration. Students are encouraged to let their quilts speak with an enthusiastic voice, expressing stories developed in an invigorating brainstorming session. They learn how images enhance their theme, the elements of good design, and how to use simple artist's tools for planning a design. Joanie shows how her own quilts maximize the effective use of color, thread illustration and quilted background textures. Come join the fun in this exciting and informative class for all quilters with a commitment to creating original designs.

Full-day theory class, Students observe many demonstrations of how a theme is conceived, developed and supported with construction decisions and processes.

Two-day hands-on Workshop, Students enjoy the atmosphere of a design studio creating a full-size paper layout for a wholecloth quilt that captures their personal expression.

All Design classes benefit from the Joanie’s Design Elements.

These new classes simplify the free-motion technique with creative results. Bring a positive attitude and your best sewing machine in good working order.

Background Bonanza Full-day Hands-on Workshop

From the ripple stipple to simple grids, from headbands to lazy daisies, filling the quilt background with interesting patterns that create texture, depth and movement is not only possible with machine quilting, Joanie encourages it. In this hands-on workshop, the texture of the background of the quilt is covered. Join Joanie for a very full and creative day expanding your free-motion skills creating a wholecloth sampler of patterns used to anchor the entire top or just fill in around stitched motifs. Enjoy her impressive portfolio of stitched examples. A strong desire to learn and a machine that is in good working order are more important to your success than previous free-motion experience.

The Secret Voice Hidden in your Fabric Full-day Hands-on Workshop

Discover the outstanding dimension that can be achieved when fabrics are quilted as the manufacturer printed them. Learn how to listen as the fabric indicates how it can be quilted without any marking! Students will stitch a sampler of assorted patterns that demonstrate how your fabric choices can be the basis for inventive stitching that enhances fabrics to their full potential. Joanie guides you through this easy process, plus includes her fundamentals of free-motion quilting including the locking stitch and perfecting machine tension. Beginner and beyond experience level.

If you have the desire to use your home sewing machine successfully for refined free-motion quilting, this class is for you! These hands-on workshops provide you with the information and confidence to complete quilts on the machine you already own and gain the satisfaction of turning a solid piece of fabric into a multi-dimensional object of art. Joanie offers her formula for success including the supplies and the basic techniques of heirloom machine quilting. You are ready for this class if you have had some previous machine quilting experience and have a strong desire to learn. Best machines required.

One-Day Ivy Wreath Heirloom Machine Quilting Workshop

In the tradition of the great wholecloth quilts, transform a solid piece of fabric into a work of beauty using the graceful Ivy Wreath design created especially for this class. Focus on refined free-motion techniques using the basic elements of Heirloom Machine Quilting: curvilinear motifs, grids, and stippling. Class includes information on essential supplies, machine set-up, marking, basting, navigating the design, plus time to begin stitching this beautiful project.

Two Day Ivy Wreath- Refined Free-motion Workshop

Students build refined free-motion skills using the basic elements of Heirloom Machine Quilting: curvilinear motifs, grids, and stippling in a supportive atmosphere. A two-day format provides students with additional time to absorb the technique, learn how essential supplies affect the process, machine set-up, marking, basting, and navigating the design, plus many helpful exercises and tips to take the fear out of refined free-motion and even more time to stitch the graceful Ivy Wreath project.

Holly Square 15" Heirloom Machine Quilted Wholecloth
Full-day, Level One, Refined free-motion hands-on workshop

Learn to transform a solid piece of fabric into a work of beauty using the original Holly Square design created for this class. Focus on refined free-motion techniques using the basic elements of Heirloom Machine Quilting: curvilinear motifs, grids, and stippling. Class includes information on essential supplies, machine set-up, marking, basting, navigating the design, plus time to begin stitching this beautiful holiday project. Alternate size runner instructions are included in the pattern.

*Students will benefit from reading Joanie’s Quilting Elements prior to class.

Joanie is committed to teaching precision techniques to those who want to construct top quality work and do it right on the first try. Workshops cover basic skills including the importance of stabilization of the fabric, accurate rotary cutting and precision piecing. Appliqué classes offer a great “turned edge” preparation process with numerous finishing techniques. Learn tips and expertise to rely on for a lifetime while creating projects designed to instruct the basic skills of each technique.

Falling Leaves Two-day Patchwork and Appliqué Workshop
(Two-day sessions or weekend retreat)

Come join the fun and improve your craftsmanship while constructing this quilt and matching pillow. Both items feature strip-pieced blocks and fusible appliqué leaves finished with blanket-stitching by hand or by machine. Learn accurate patchwork, sewing and pressing techniques for strip-pieced blocks, precise half-square triangles, several edge finishing techniques and a saw-tooth border. The original pattern contains quilting designs and complete instructions for both items.

Birdie in a Garden Wreath Invisible Machine Appliqué,
Full-day Workshop

Learn invisible appliqué by machine using this original pattern (or kit) based on traditional Folk Art shapes. First, discover a hassle-free preparation method for turned edge appliqué using heat resistant template plastic. (No messy glue or paper to remove!) Next, learn to attach the shapes with invisible appliqué by machine. This preparation method can be used for traditional hand appliqué or decorative edge finishing techniques by hand or machine, all will be demonstrated.

Garden Basket Pillow, Raw-edge Fusible Appliqué,
Full-day workshop

This is not your Grandmother's fusible appliqué! Join in the fun constructing this colorful pillow in a one-day workshop that covers a new lightweight method for raw-edge fusible appliqué. The technique results in softer, more pliable projects. Learn to use invisible thread in your zigzag sewing machine to achieve “mock hand appliqué” or choose decorative threads for testing a variety of delicate edge finishing stitches performed by machine. This class also includes a instructions for a quick, “faux cording” technique for trimming the 13" X 17" pillow.

Garden Birdhouse Wall Quilt Turned Edge Appliqué,
Full-day Workshop

Create your own 20" X 24" wall quilt with precise turned edge appliqué by machine. The use of heatproof template material makes turning the edges simple. Learn straight, curved, and corner turning techniques with this design. This full-day workshop also explores mock hand appliqué by machine, using invisible thread and a blind-hem stitch to finish edges.

Order Joanie's original patterns from the Products page.

Mill house Quilts
Waunakee, WI
October 22 and 23, 2010
January 16 and 17, 2011
www.millhousequilts.com

The Fabric Corner
Brookfield, WI
August 13, 2010
www.thefabriccorner.net

WI Quilt Expo
Madison, WI
Sept 9 - 11, 2010
www.wpt.org/quiltexpo

Events Open to the Public

Fox Valley Tech
Oshkosh, WI
March 25 - 26, 2011

Quiltique Quilt Shop
Henderson, NV
November 18 - 20, 2010
www.quiltique.com

To book an event or
request fee information,
click here to
Contact Joanie

“Have courage
to be spectacular!
Nothing great happens
in you predictable safe
and certain box,
You have to risk
being very bad
in the hopes
of being very good.”

Unknown Author

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