Sue Nickels | Quilter • Author • Teacher • Lecturer

My sister, Pat Holly and I lectured and taught for the Indianapolis Quilt Guild in mid-January. We were fortunate to have great travel weather both ways! It is always a concern when driving to events in the winter. We gave our lecture on how we collaborate on quilts, the group seemed to enjoy our history! We then taught two days of machine technique classes to very enthusiastic students.

I am explaining how I stitch the feather design.

I am showing how I stitch the feather… exciting stuff!

Our students watching with excitement…

More good information for the group!

Mary Anne, Pat and Pat! (holding friend Pat’s beautiful hooked rug)

Pat and I had a wonderful dinner at our friend Mary Anne’s home and our friend Pat joined us.. Mary Anne and Pat are Beaver Island buddies from way back, having all attended Gwen Marston’s retreats in northern Michigan for many years. It was good see them on our trip to Indianapolis! We had a great visit with the Indianapolis Quilt Guild!

I was also excited to have a personal retreat with my own quilting group- I have been part of Tuesday Night Friends for 29 years! It was 4 days of non-stop sewing….

Sewing with our wonderful Bernina Sewing Machines!

and more Bernina Sewing Machines!

Wow, that’s a lot of Bernina’s! I couldn’t help but take photo’s of our group and our machines!

Well that’s it for January! It is now off to February trips… I will be leaving on Monday for Williamsburg, Virginia and a week of teaching at The Elly Sienkiewicz Applique Academy. I will remember to take lots of photo’s and report back on this wonderful conference…

I would like to share with you my first January 2011 teaching trip. I start the year teaching at The Annual January Icehouse Quilt Retreat in Grayling, Michigan. It is the quilt shop I taught some of my first machine quilting classes many years ago. The retreat started over 10 years ago and many of the same students have attended every year! It is always the first weekend after the new year and everyone is ready to get away and start a new project!  We begin the retreat with a reveiw of my past teaching year and then show & tell from the students. A few students brought their projects from previous years.

Every year I give students a unique nametag.. This year I think they were really cute. They go on the sewing machine for everyone to see. This is a nice way for old and new students get know each other quickly!

Our workshop this year was Folk Garden Borders. Students learned how to design a unique folk art style border. They also learned or reveiwed the Stitched Raw Edge Machine Applique technique I have been teaching for many years. Here is the group photo- although a few were missing!

Here is Judy hard at work on her original border design!

A good time was had by all! We enjoy having one dinner at Spikes (a typical up north bar!) for the best burger of the year! We alternate each year between machine quilting and machine applique. Next year will be “Machine Quilting- Whole Cloth Feathers”…. The dates are January 5-8, 2012 (contact Ali at The Icehouse Quilt Shop in Grayling, Michigan for more information). Next post I will continue with my January travels- My sister, Pat Holly and I visit  the Indianapolis Quilt Guild…   and I thought you might enjoy a photo of me! of course with granddaughter Stella!

February 1, 2011…

Welcome to my new blog! I am excited to start sharing with you my teaching, travels and time in my studio. This is all new to me, so I am going to start slowly and just post this first time and show a photo of my granddaughter holding my Machine Quilting DVD! Watch for more soon as I will reveiw my January travel and teaching…