Longarm Quilting Machines

Note: Most longarm workshops are lecture/demos and many include handouts. We suggest you bring along paper and pencil for note taking and sketching.

Thursday Workshops - Friday Workshops - Saturday Workshops

The supply lists on this page are provided in Adobe Acrobat format, which require the Acrobat Reader to view.

Thursday Workshops: September 9th
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LA-1 ~ Embellishing 101 MERGED with LA-2
Cathy Franks
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
You can use your longarm as a sewing machine to make all kinds of embellishments. Learn to create fringe, do thread painting, couching, capturing of threads and bits of fabric, and much more. Simple and easy ways to use thread and fabric and other ‘stuff’ to add a spark to your quilt will be demonstrated.

LA-2 ~ The Kitchen Sink of Embellishing
Cathy Franks
11:00 – 1:00 pm
$35
Tired of quilting the same old way? Need to add spark to what you offer your clients? In this workshop, you’ll learn how to do bobbin sewing by turning your quilt upside down and quilting from the back – no marking! Learn the long stitch – a great way to do your own thread appliqué. Make needle lace with a boil-away stabilizer, and much more.

LA-7 ~ Quilt to Fill Basics
Bona & Jodi Robinson
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
This workshop will introduce a free-hand method of filling blocks, borders, or any predetermined area of a quilt by stretching your design. You will be shown how to use predesigned shapes to create an original, unique wholecloth with minimal markings. Using commercially available stencils or templates to show the ease and versatility of the ‘quilt to fill’ method will be demonstrated.

LA-8 ~ Accounting Systems for the Longarm Business
Bona Robinson
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
This class will focus on the various methods of bookkeeping for businesses. We will look at what you really need, depending on the volume of transactions you generate. We will cover the basic shoebox method then move on to the various types of manual systems that are on the market. Included is a demo of computerized software such as Quicken and/or Managing Your Money and QuickBooks, one of the most popular small business programs available today.

LA-9 ~ Pricing is More Than Just a Formula
Bona Robinson
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Yes, there are formulas to calculate your selling price and we will work through them; but is that all there is to the issue of pricing? Do you understand variable and fixed expenses and how each relates to the amount of profit you can make? There are outside factors to consider, too – what about the competition, discounted pricing, or promotions? Many issues will be discussed and questions will be answered as time permits.

LA-13 ~ Longarm Business Details
Marcia Stevens
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
There’s more to this business than just quilting. Adjusting tensions, choosing needles, thread and batting, advertising, dealing with less than perfect quilts and clients, profitable pricing, managing your time, and much more. No one is perfect, but Marcia will help you look almost perfect in the eyes of your customers. Learn some tricks of the trade from a seasoned expert and acquire more confidence in dealing with your clients.

LA-14 ~ How Do I Quilt That?  FULL !!
Marcia Stevens
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Perhaps you feel you’re not an artist. You want to be creative with your quilting, but don’t know where to start. Your customers may say, “Do what you think looks best.” How do you handle that? Let Marcia walk you through a list of suggestions and sources for creating one-of-a-kind quilts. She will show you lots of examples of these ideas in slides and actual quilts.

LA-20 ~ Advanced Longarm Quilting  FULL !!
Linda Taylor
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Getting bored with your freehand techniques? Want some ideas to speed up your quilting process? Linda shows you how to catch the rhythm of quilting a Lone Star with only one start and stop; many more stippling and meandering patterns (including the "Texas Tornado"); a peacock fern medallion; additional freehand border and sashing ideas; and sensational new ideas from some of Linda’s latest show quilts will be demonstrated. The sampler completed in this workshop will be given away as a door prize at the end of class.

LA-21 ~ Refining Technical Skills  FULL !!
Linda Taylor
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Technical skills cannot be neglected in the well-rounded quilter. By necessity, Linda is an efficiency expert on how to work a custom quilt. She will show you an easy and fast technique to quilt a border design, how to stitch in the ditch, do ¼” outlining, quilt diagonal lines, stitch around curves and appliqué, and rotate the quilt. She will also cover some of the standards of quilting ‘show quilts.’

LA-27 ~ Simply Traditional
Sherry Rogers
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
The primary focus of this workshop is ‘traditional’ quilting designs and how to incorporate them into your repertoire of techniques. Sherry will provide resources for traditional quilt designs and you will learn how to convert many hand-quilted patterns into the continuous line designs we use in our industry. We will also do a variety of grid work and backgrounds with the longarm and use rulers, templates, and stencils. Samples and lots of ideas will be shared. Handouts are included.

LA-28 ~ Brainless Borders – Intermediate Level
Sherry Rogers
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
This workshop presents a wide variety of border patterns using rulers and templates that can be applied to add a special finishing touch to quilts of all sizes and styles. For those of you who have not yet tried rulers and templates, this class will open up new possibilities. For those who have, Sherry will also provide tips and tricks to expand and enhance the value of these tools. You will learn ways to combine templates with freehand techniques to create “one of a kind” designs.

LA-33 ~ To Zip or Not To Zip
Sue Schmieden
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
In this demonstration class, Sue will discuss her Quick Zip System and how it is used for loading your quilts onto longarm, shortarm, or Handi Quilter frames. She will show you how to pin and load the quilt correctly on the longarm. And, she will discuss floating and basting techniques that will help keep your quilt square. Lots of ideas for other uses of the zippers will be included, too.

LA-35 ~ Wholecloth Design
Karen McTavish
8:30 am – 5:00 pm (6 hrs.)
$150
This full day workshop for the advanced quilter, with a lunch break from 11:30 – 2:00, is a hands-on design class on marking your traditional heirloom wholecloth quilt top using stencils. All stencils will be provided for your use during class. Instruction in trapunto, shadow trapunto, and the use of colored batting will be a part of this workshop. Class includes award-winning trunk show.
Materials fee: $10 kit, payable to instructor.
Supply List

LA-41 ~ APQS Maintenance
Connie Hurst
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
The purpose of this APQS maintenance workshop is to help you learn how to maintain your longarm machine to keep it performing at its best. Connie will take the covers off the machine to show you how it functions, do some actual troubleshooting, and show you how to correct any issues that may arise.

LA-44 ~ ABC’s of Longarm Machine Quilting
Dawn Cavanaugh
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Dawn has packed this workshop with creative ideas and solutions to your longarm quilting challenges. This class is excellent for everyone from the “wanna be” machine quilter to the experienced veteran. Dawn literally takes you through the alphabet and covers over 50 hints that will make your work easier and smarter.

LA-45 ~ Background Fills & Thrills  FULL !!
Dawn Cavanaugh
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Stipple, stipple, stipple, snooze! Do visions of little worms or a one-million-piece jigsaw puzzle invade your dreams? Dawn will show you how to take away the boredom by introducing over 15 different background techniques you can use to spice up a quilt - - from brickwork to garden vines to paisley designs and more. This workshop is designed for the quilter who is ready to move beyond templates and explore freehand quilting techniques.

LA-50 ~ Designs With Lines
Pamela Clarke
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
This workshop is designed to help speed up the process of longarm machine quilting. Pam will share her convenient, proven, and helpful methods of creating outstanding designs. Whether you are a confident beginner or an advanced longarm quilter, you will find this class packed with valuable information so simple to learn that you will be amazed at the versatile and exciting ways you will now approach machine quilting. This workshop includes: lecture, workbook, samples, and longarm demonstrations.

LA-51 ~ Borderlines
Pamela Clarke
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Do borders frighten you? Not any more! Pam will give you the confidence to tackle several different borders. Learn three border techniques that will change the way you approach the quilt. Discover how to deal with borders, corners, or lattice and which designs work best in these areas. Several samples and techniques will be presented. A workbook is also provided.

LA-52 ~ Fearless Beginnings to Longarm Quilting  FULL !!
Pamela Clarke
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
A beginner level workshop, this class is designed to help you save time and gain confidence. Discover the secrets to smooth quilting and basic designs, all from the front of the machine. Pam will cover how to mark a quilt top, illustrate several background stitches, and teach you the seven basic quilt patterns to use when creating quilt designs. You will be amazed at how easy it is to quilt feathers, hearts, leaves, waves, and more. A workbook full of ideas is provided.

Friday Workshops: September 10th
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LA-3 ~ Thread, Tension & Design
Cathy Franks
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Thread and tension are the backbone of our longarm businesses. At times, they cause us misery. Cathy will show you her hints on how to make those wonderful threads behave. There are reasons for all the different sizes and kinds of thread on the market…metallic, sliver, rayon, invisible thread, and more. We will tame the thread monster! Can’t find the right quilting design? We will also explore how to come up with one that will work on your quilt and make it the best it can be.

LA-4 ~ Simple Steps to Improve Your Longarm Machine Quilting
Cathy Franks
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
In this workshop, we will start with the customer worksheet and other information you need to do the quilting job. Pressing of quilt tops, pinning, stitch in the ditch, anchoring to fill in the background, and blocking of the quilt will be covered. We will also discuss what judges look for, how to improve your own piecing techniques, and how to finish the binding with the ladder stitch.

LA-6 ~ Gammill Maintenance  FULL !!
Cathy Kleinschmidt
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
This class emphasizes proper Gammill maintenance, cleaning, care, and operational techniques for the longarm quilter. You will learn tension, timing, how to deal with looping problems, switch replacement, wheel alignment, and more. Cathy uses a common sense approach to help take the fear out of those basic adjustments that longarm quilters may encounter.

LA-10 ~ Bookkeeping/Recordkeeping, Tax Tips & Strategies
Bona Robinson
8:30 – 11:30 am
$50
This 3-hour workshop will cover such topics as the kinds of records to keep, how long to keep them, and how to analyze the information your records provide. Different types of accounting systems will be discussed, as well as what types of informational reports are generated by each method. We will also look at some of the tax alternatives available. After taking this class, you should have a much better understanding of how to organize and record the necessary information needed by your tax preparer at the end of the year.

LA-15 ~ Beyond the Basics
Marcia Stevens
1:00 – 4:00 pm
$50
This 3-hour intermediate class will take you beyond the basics of pantograph quilting: evenly spacing the quilting designs across the quilt surface, offsetting designs to avoid the “stacked” look, redesigning or resizing patterns to fit your needs, and creating border designs with smooth corner transitions. What about adding a little trapunto? Marcia has many great suggestions for you and will share lots of ideas.

LA-19 ~ Nolting Maintenance: Helpful Tips to Keep Your Longarm Running Strong
Dan Novak
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
In this workshop, Dan will explain many of the reasons why someone might have trouble with their longarm machine and provide solutions to help cure these problems. He will cover a variety of issues - from thread breakage to hook timing. Most of his examples will be demonstrated on the Nolting machine, but his tips could be helpful for other brands of longarm as well.

LA-22 ~ Professional Quilting: Getting Down to Business
Linda Taylor
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Sure we love quilting, but most commercial quilting machine owners are in business to make money. How can we increase our profits, conserve more of our time and energy, enhance good relationships with customers, and still enjoy our quilting? Linda will show and tell everything she has learned while owning and operating a successful quilting business. You will garner many new insightful ideas to help your business grow…all from an experienced professional.

LA-23 ~ Longarm Trapunto Methods
Linda Taylor
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Once you feel comfortable with some of the meandering techniques, confidently put them to work to create depth and dimension in your quilting. Linda adapted Hari Walner’s trapunto methods to the longarm industry seven years ago. In this class, she will complete three wall hangings, utilizing at least eight of the various trapunto techniques (wait ‘til you see this!).

LA-24 ~ Fancy Feather Frenzy  FULL !!
Linda Taylor
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
You asked for it! Linda will quilt three wall hangings incorporating over 40 different freehand feathers. There’s no question that good freehand feathers can really set you free in your quilting and increase your earnings on the longarm machine. When you leave this workshop, you should have feathered dreams! Dead end feather, braided feather, teardrop feather, polka dot feather, and Linda’s famous feather-in-a-feather are just a few of the feather designs you’ll learn to quilt freehand. Wall hangings will be given away as door prizes.

LA-29 ~ Freehand 101
Sherry Rogers
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
In this beginner to intermediate workshop, Sherry will be making a wholecloth sampler entirely freehand. She will use up to 12 different specialty threads. Techniques include: how to set in motifs with a laser light, quilting freehand motifs, at least 12 different freehand fillers, and more. Workshop participants will take home lots of ideas from this class. Handouts are included.

LA-30 ~ Brainless Borders – Advanced Level
Sherry Rogers
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
If you have taken Sherry’s Brainless Borders workshop in the past and found yourself wanting more, this is the class for you. Sherry will delve into more complex designs using rulers and templates and will combine them with the many quilting stencils that are on the market today. Do you like the cable designs you see, but shudder at the thought of seeing them wobble as you attempt to get them smooth and straight? Let Sherry show you how it is done the brainless way!

LA-36 ~ Custom Heirloom Longarm Machine Quilting
Karen McTavish
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Are you ready to start beautiful heirloom quilting? Karen will share her award winning quilts and cover historic quilting designs and patterns, demonstrate traditional feathering techniques from the 1800’s, and show you how to achieve feathering without starting and stopping. She will also demo shadow trapunto, faux appliqué reverse trapunto, and “McTavishing.” A trunk show of quilts and a slideshow are included.

LA-37 ~ Unleashing Your Creativity
Karen McTavish
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Are you feeling stuck? Do you need some real inspiration to get you out of a creative rut? Are you ready to unleash your quilting talents and move into your own original style? This is a class for the advanced quilter who needs a spark to motivate or move forward into a new phase of award winning quilting.

LA-46 ~ Even More Background Fills & Thrills  FULL !!
Dawn Cavanaugh
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Whet your quilting appetite with even more background ideas to take the place of stippling. The sampler for this class features a feather that wanders around the center area and includes butterflies, snowflakes, stars, angel wings, cross-hatching, herringbone, and a splash of trapunto. You’ll learn how to stretch your imagination with these great original designs. You’ll also learn how to expand these designs to become “overall” patterns, eliminating the need to set up pantographs.

LA-47 ~ Meet the Client
Dawn Cavanaugh
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Your business is ready to go, and your first customer is ringing the doorbell. What do you do? That first meeting plays a key role in your success as a longarm quilter. How do you determine what designs to put on the quilt? What if the quilt isn’t exactly perfect? Can you provide a cost estimate? Are you ready to explain batting differences, thread choices, and address backing issues? Dawn will help you develop your own “first contact” plan by exploring all the aspects of a successful consultation with your client…from choosing designs to estimating the bill.

LA-48 ~ Border Bonanza
Dawn Cavanaugh
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
The ditches are stitched, the patches outlined, the empty blocks filled. You’re on to the border – now what? We’ll explore how to choose designs that complement your patchwork. You’ll learn how to use paper templates with lasers or pointers, fold paper and other stabilizers to make a stitchable template, mark quilts using chalk and stencils, use reference seams to accurately space your designs, and create and execute several freehand quilting designs.

LA-53 ~ Blending the Old With the New
Pamela Clarke
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Take the fear out of machine quilting those antique and new quilt tops. Learn and share the secrets of adding that hand-quilted look with an electric needle. This lecture/demo with slide show will get your creative juices flowing and give you the confidence to say, “Yes! I can machine quilt antique tops!” Pam will discuss the problems associated with older quilts: repairs, designs, cleaning, and whether or not to finish them. This class will enable you to finish the old and the new.

LA-54 ~ Quilt Therapy
Pamela Clarke
1:00 – 5:00 pm
$75
This 4-hr. workshop is for all skill levels. Do you have a problem quilt top? Help is on the way! Bring that quilt to class for a little bit of counseling. Learn what to do with wavy borders, plump blocks, or poor piecing. Several samples and handouts will be available on how to pick the correct design to take away piecing problems. You will discover secrets on how to enhance any quilt with just the right designs, from background fillers to negative blocks. We’ll go over as many quilts as time permits.

Saturday Workshops: September 11th
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LA-5 ~ Surface Design – Hands On
Cathy Franks
8:30 am – 5:00 pm (6 hrs.)
$150
This full day (6 hr.) workshop includes a long lunch break and is going to be lots of fun! It’s hands-on and limited in size to provide each student with plenty of opportunity to play! Cathy will teach you how to make fringe, do thread appliqué, create needle lace, do thread painting, capturing, bobbin work, and use paints, inks and dyes to jazz up your quilts. Each student will make a sampler to take home.
Materials: Bring your own – supply list provided.
Supply List

LA-11 ~ Starting a Longarm Quilting Business
Bona Robinson
8:30 – 11:30 am
$50
This 3 hr. workshop will present and answer questions that you need to consider when starting your longarm quilting business. What do you want out of your business? What skills and weaknesses have an impact on your success? Can you manage your time effectively? How do you know if there is a need for another longarmer in your area? What machine should you buy? How will you finance this endeavor? Does your bank want a business plan? Many questions will be answered.

LA-12 ~ Quilt to Fill Basics
Bona & Jodi Robinson
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
This workshop is a repeat of Thursday’s longarm class, LA-7. Please see that description for more information.

LA-16 ~ Basic Pantos and Beyond
Marcia Stevens
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Are you new to longarm quilting and not quite confident enough to do your quilting freestyle? Have you purchased all of those lovely pantograph roll patterns, but don’t know how to get the most out of the them? Marcia will walk you through the basics of pantograph quilting and then take you beyond those basics: evenly spacing the designs across the quilt surface, off-setting them to avoid the “stacked” look, redesigning or resizing them to fit your needs, and using them in borders with smooth corner transitions.

LA-17 ~ Expanding on Pantos
Marcia Stevens
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Still want to get more out of your pantograph patterns? Do you have a scalloped or irregular edge border and want to use that favorite roll pattern? Or, do you want to use parts of that same pattern in a square, triangle, or other odd shape? Do you want every one of those inset designs to be identical? Freehand is fun, but there may be times when the perfectionist in you wants every one of those designs to look the same. Marcia has some great suggestions and will share her knowledge and experience in this area.

LA-18 ~ Add Dimension & Color to Your Quilting
Marcia Stevens
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Do you like the look of trapunto, but think it’s too time consuming? Trapunto can be achieved several different ways and can be fun and easy when you learn a few secrets. Shadow appliqué can also add that little extra dimension to a quilt to make it spectacular. With all of the lovely specialty threads now available, learn what you need to do to make them work in your machine. We’ll explore lots of options and put some pizzazz into your quilting!

LA-25 ~ In the Beginning: Quilting Machine Basics
Linda Taylor
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Where do we start? How do we end? And, what is supposed to happen in-between? Linda starts at the beginning and carefully shows how the quilt process is completed efficiently. Proper quilt set-up, setting and offsetting pantographs, basting for hand quilters, and overall meandering techniques will be discussed and demonstrated. This is a technique class…not maintenance, business, or customer relations.

LA-26 ~ Industrial Threadplay & Surface Design  FULL !!
Linda Taylor
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Rayon, metallic, acrylic, cotton, poly, and yes, even “fluff” are just some of the fun threads and yarns Linda will be using in this class…even some upside down! The latest threadplay ideas really come alive on these machines. The surface design ideas such as wholecloth weaving, raw edge collage, fabric confetti, and couching with fun threads will hurl you into the creative future of longarm quilting as your mind explores the possibilities. Come and join us for lots of surprises!

LA-31 ~ Beginning Custom Heirloom Quilting
Sherry Rogers
8:00 –10:00 am
$35
Are you interested in adding custom heirloom quilting to your repertoire of quilting styles? In this beginning workshop, you’ll learn how and when to stabilize the quilt, master stitch in the ditch, discover continuous curve, learn to work with stencils, use markers, templates, and more…all as we explore the world of “heirloom.”

LA-32 ~ Painless Patterns
Sherry Rogers
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
This brand new workshop will consist of an array of freehand borders to add to your repertoire of quilting designs. No more turning the quilt! You will also learn how to quilt pantograph patterns using Sherry’s quick and easy set-up system.

LA-34 ~ Renting Your Longarm for Profit
Sue Schmieden
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
Ever thought about renting out time on your longarm? Sue has been successfully training customers and renting three longarm quilting machines for the past four years in her Wisconsin shop. Longarm rental is a great way to boost your profits while reducing the physical demands of constantly machine quilting. Sue will cover rental and class fees, advertising, promotions, class ideas, and various products to sell to increase your profits and excite your customers about renting. Time will be allowed at the end of the class to answer your questions, too.

LA-38 ~ For the Love of Wholecloth
Karen McTavish
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Are you ready to create your masterpiece wholecloth quilt but don’t know where to begin? This exciting class includes Karen’s trunk show, slideshow, and step-by-step instructions on how to produce and draft a wholecloth with feathering that looks traditionally hand-quilted…but, it’s continuous! Demos in “McTavishing,” stenciling, trapunto, shadow trapunto, and formal wholecloth design is included.

LA-39 ~ Custom Heirloom Longarm Machine Quilting
Karen McTavish
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
This workshop is a repeat of Friday’s longarm class, LA-36. Please see that description for more information.

LA-40 ~ Line It Up!
Helen Smith Stone
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
The use of “lines” in both the proper set-up of your quilt and the execution of designs will be covered in this workshop. With all of the beautiful freehand designs, curves, use of pantos, stencils and templates that we all enjoy, don’t forget about the line! Helen will illustrate straight and diagonal lines in borders and blocks, how to quilt cross-hatching, stitch-in-the-ditch, quarter-inching, and show how lines can give your eyes a place to rest and add a special touch to your quilt.

LA-49 ~ Preemie and Newbie Intensive Care
Dawn Cavanaugh
8:30 – 11:30 am
$50
This 3 hr. workshop is for the beginning longarm quilter. Has the idea of owning a longarm quilting machine been “incubating” in your head for some time? Or, are you the new parent of a longarm? In this informative class, Dawn will show you the basics of setting up your business - from writing a business plan to marketing yourself. You’ll see how Dawn prepares and loads a quilt, learn tricks to deal with wavy borders, how to stabilize, center, echo, and much more. There’s lots to learn and Dawn will cover many topics and answer your questions.

LA-55 ~ Time Management
Pamela Clarke
8:00 – 10:00 am
$35
Join Pam, a longarm quilter since 1988, for a discussion on the finer points of time management, documentation, shop organization, generation of leads, scheduling, preparation, community exposure, delegation, and basic day to day routine operations for a satisfying and profitable longarm quilting business.

LA-56 ~ Sew Uniquely You  CHANGED to: "The Wholecloth Quilt" presented by Holice Turnbow
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
$35
This is a slideshow, lecture, and demo workshop on the unlimited use of multiple designs that surround us in everyday life. Let your imagination run wild while creating your own style. Pam will demonstrate: how to make quilt labels, designs to use on crazy quilts, an easy trapunto method, some basic freehand folk flowers, and blanket-stitch appliqué.

LA-57 ~ More Designs With Lines
Pamela Clarke
2:00 – 4:00 pm
$35
Pam will demonstrate several of her stencils not used in her earlier “Designs With Lines” workshop. She will share how to create beautiful quilting designs using the curvy square, circle, and swirl. Discover how to combine these simple shapes to create outstanding borders and fill up those negative spaces. A workbook is provided in this class and Pam will demonstrate with the longarm machine. This is a workshop for the serious quilter.

 

"New York Beauty"
Designed by:
Karen Stone
Pieced & Longarm Machine Quilted by:
H elen Smith Stone

 
   
All Rights Reserved: SmithStone Productions, LLC