featured teacher

Charles Johns Teacher Bio: Charles Johns

Charles Johns started sewing and doing needlecrafts at an early age. Whether he was making his suit for his HS graduation or tapestry needlepoint panels for an antique wooden room divider screen, he always liked to be challenged. As a young adult, he started out sewing women’s and men’s clothing, and then moved on to wedding dresses, window treatments and theatrical costumes. In undergrad college, he designed for, supervised and ran the costume shop.

In 1999 Charles moved to NYC, and three years later took his first quilting class. He was hooked. “Quilting helps me see color and prints in a new way.” He prefers machine piecing traditional quilts, but challenges himself to play with the color and fabric prints to give his quilts a little twist.

Whether he is taking a class or teaching one, Charles enjoys the classroom atmosphere. He enjoys making learning fun so the students develop an appetite to continue their education.

And he has been pleased to find many other male quilters, through these websites: manquilters.ning.com and through the Yahoo group QuiltGuy.com.

Charles Johns - Featured Teacher - Cowboy Quilt Charles Johns - Featured Teacher - Japanese Quilt Charles Johns - Featured Teacher


 


Julie Fei-Fan Balzer "A Woman's Power" Teacher Bio: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is a self-taught mixed media artist. She discovered quilting almost five years ago and had to be taught not only how to use a sewing machine, but how to iron! Almost immediately after learning to sew her first blocks (at the City Quilter, by the way), Julie veered away from traditional patterns and headed straight towards art quilts. Her quilts have a handmade, whimsical, primitive art style. "I embrace mistakes as opportunities and experiment wildly with techniques and supplies. I believe that art making should be a fun and relaxing leisure-time activity, and yet offer challenges."

"All of my artwork is personal. It is drawn from my life and through my blog and my classes, I try very hard to encourage others to share their stories." Julie's artwork has been published in Quilting Arts Gifts, Cloth Paper Scissors, Somerset Memories, Somerset Digital, Creating Keepsakes, Memory Makers, Scrapbooking&Beyond, and multiple online e-zines and as a contributor to several books. She has appeared on Quilting Arts TV and she is the host of the "Artist to Artist" segment on Scrapbook Memories TV. She writes a crafty blog where she posts musings, art, tutorials, and inspiration. Julie is the Artistic Director of The Milk Can Theatre Company.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer "A Woman's Power"
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer "Reasons To Stay"
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer - Ribbon Cuffs
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer - "Bedtime Stories"

Where Does A Woman's Power Come From?
Designed and made by
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Reasons to Stay
Designed and made by
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Ribbon Cuffs
Designed and made by
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Bedtime Stories
Designed and made by
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer


Small Japanese Quilt BlockTeacher Bio: Susan Sato

Third-generation Japanese American, Susan Sato has been sewing since age 14. The oldest of five children, she started by sewing her own clothes and later made clothing for her daughter, Jana. She moved from Connecticut to Brooklyn in 1986 and became a quilt-maker in 1994.

While going through an old trunk at her mother’s home about ten years ago, Susan found her grandfather’s kimono and obi with his kamon, the family crest, on it. She knew then that sewing in the traditional Japanese style was the path she wanted to follow for her quilting inspiration. Susan started quilting with Japanese fabrics, incorporating the sashiko form of hand sewing. When her own work inspired her to teach, she began with basic quilting classes in Japanese free-form design classes and branching out into Shibori and silk dyeing.

In celebration of its newly refurbished entrance, the
Brooklyn Museum of Art commissioned Susan to create photo pillows for their gift shop. Her line of Japanese handbags and pillows have been sold in Brooklyn shops.

Susan teaches handbag classes for beginners that can be finished in a day. She finds this to be a great way for beginner quilters to learn how to work with a pattern and construct a bag. “I enjoy teaching beginners and the advice I have for them is patience and practice. The Brooklyn Bridge wasn’t built in a day.”

A member and past co-president of The Quilters’ Guild of Brooklyn, her work has been featured in exhibits throughout the Northeast. Keep an eye out for one of her quilts to be included in a new quilting book this summer!

Japanese Circles
Shibori sample
Mini Modern II
Silk Handbag

Japanese Circles
Designed and made by
Susan Sato

Shibori Sample
Designed and made by
Susan Sato

Mini Modern II
Designed and made by
Susan Sato

Silk Handbag
Designed and made by
Susan Sato



block Teacher Bio: Nancy Rabatin

Nancy Rabatin considers herself a dollmaker who also makes quilts. Dolls are her specialty, and everything that she has learned and done over her career contributes to their creation.

Nancy started sewing as a child in Rockland County, taught by her mother who also taught her sisters and brothers to sew. She began sewing clothing--for herself and for her Madame Alexander dolls. Her childhood ambition was to become a fashion designer. She studied at Hunter College and FIT, and has held a wide range of jobs in the fashion industry, including responsibilities for merchandising, technical design, and purchasing.

Her first foray into making dolls came in seventh grade when she made a cloth doll as part of a book report on Treasure Island. She doesn’t recall what kind of grade she received, but it was enough to get her hooked. Nancy has gone on to take many classes from well known doll-makers to further her skills, as well as drawing and anatomy classes, to add to her technical knowledge of the human figure. She says she has learned something from every teacher she has studied with, but her style is uniquely her own.

Nancy enjoys making dolls because it gives her a chance to use all of her skills, from clothing construction to embroidery, beading and felting. Consequently, she is able to bring to bear a wide variety of artistic perspectives as a teacher. She loves to see what creative things students can do on their own once they learn a technique, and how surprised they are when they see what they can produce.

She teaches all kinds of doll classes at The City Quilter, ranging from traditional cloth dolls to whimsical creatures made of stray socks and gloves. Nancy is also our resident felting expert and has taught classes in wet and dry felting.

Elfin doll made by The City Quilter teacher, Nancy Rabatin
Hattie & Elsbeth dolls made by City Quilter's teacher, Nancy Rabatin
Pere Noel Doll made by City Quilter teacher, Nancy Rabatin

Elfin
Designed and made by
Nancy Rabatin

Large Doll: Hattie
Small Doll: Elsbeth
Made by Nancy Rabatin

Pere Noel
Designed and made by
Nancy Rabatin



block Teacher Bio: Barbara Feinstein

Barbara Feinstein started quilting when her sister Emily signed her up for a beginning patchwork class with Judy Doenias. That, according to Barbara, was “the beginning of the end!” As a lifelong crafter and sewing enthusiast, Barbara was a natural quilter. Like her sister, Barbara has been sewing all of her life, and also credits her mother with teaching her to sew. Barbara sewed her own clothes, as well as things for her two sons.

It’s no wonder that Barbara became a quilting teacher. Teaching has been a part of her life since college. Barbara (as well as her sister) attended the State University of New York at Cortland, where she received a BA degree in elementary education, and a BS in accounting.

Family responsibilities took her to to various places around the US and Europe, where she continued to teach, and to learn different crafts. In Sweden, she learned tie dye and macramé, and in Italy she learned to knit and became a certified knitting instructor. She also taught Swedish businessmen to speak “American” English. The class was successful, but the students all learned to speak with Brooklyn accents!

Barbara is well known at City Quilter for her love of Japanese fabric and design. One of her sons lives in Japan, and Barbara’s work has been influenced by trips to visit him and his family. She loves the challenge of adapting patterns from Japanese books and magazines to use in her classes. She likes to see students learn a new skill, and come away from the class with a finished project. 

Barbara loves traditional quilts - she’s an official Goddess, having completed an entire Dear Jane® quilt - but her creative use of fabrics gives them her own unique twist.

Her favorite hobby is - what else? - shopping for fabric in Japan!

the gates
dearjane
theredline

Gates
Designed and made by
Barbara Feinstein

Dear Jane
A reproduction of Jane A Stickle's Quilt made by
Barbara Feinstein

The Red Line
A Quilt "as you go" Quilt made by Barbara Feinstein



Block Teacher Bio: Emily Klainberg

Emily Klainberg was destined to become a quilter, since she has been sewing and doing crafts for nearly her entire life. She started young, learning to crochet at age 6 to make a beret for her doll. Her mother was a big influence for Emily, as well as for her twin sister Barbara, because, in Emily's words, "she did everything." Emily and her sister both learned a wide range of sewing techniques - in fact, all of their friends would come over for lessons as well!

Emily has also done embroidery, needlepoint, jewelry, (gold, silver and cloisonné enamel) beading, knitting and crochet. Her book, Step By Step Crochet, was published by Golden Press in 1970. (Alas, it's now out of print.)

Emily learned to quilt when a friend convinced her to help with a quilt-in-a-day type of project. She agreed. She enjoyed it so much, she decided to sign herself (and her sister) up for a beginning class with Judy Doenias. She went on to take many more classes, and then became a teacher herself.

She loves to work on, and teach a variety of topics, from hand work to art quilts, and she continues to take classes to expand her horizons. She especially enjoys teaching beginners, because she loves to see them blossom into full-fledged quilters. Her greatest joy is having a student come back after the class has ended, to buy more fabric for their next project.

Emily's fans know her for her fun classes and her easy-going approach. What they may not know is that she is also a great cook (she was once a sous-chef at a West Village bistro) and that she makes a mean cosmopolitan. When not sewing or teaching, Emily enjoys theater, ballet, and travel with her husband, Dolph.

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2
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Brush Stroke
Designed and made by
Emily Klainberg

Oriental Fantasy
Made by
Emily Klainberg

Finished Before Barbara's
A reproduction of Jane A Stickle's Quilt made by Emily Klainberg



octagon block Teacher Bio: Judy Doenias

Judy Doenias came to quilting as a second career, after working for 26 years for the government. She learned to hand piece in 1987, and two years later, started teaching. As a math lover, quilting appealed to her love of geometry. As an avid knitter and needlepointer, she was also attracted to colorful fabrics and the satisfaction of handwork. Her first quilt remains unfinished, but she discovered a new obsession.

Judy’s work takes many forms. She has experimented with just about every technique, and her interests range from the most traditional topics like English Paper Piecing, Sashiko and Dear Jane, to such contemporary topics as Colourwash, Tessellations and her own particular fascination, Quilt As You Go. Her innovations in this technique, in which the blocks are pieced on a foundation of batting and backing fabric, allow her to make more quilts in less time. Not content with basic patterns, Judy has gone on to adapt designs like Drunkard’s Path, New York Beauty, and Inlaid Appliqué to Quilt As You Go. She puts her unique stamp onto easy designs like Log Cabin and Rail Fence, and her QAYG classes are always popular at The City Quilter.

Her CQ classes run the gamut from beginners (Basic Patchwork by Hand, and Hand Quilting) to advanced (Everyday Best, and the wildly popular CQ University Log Cabin) as well as such novelty topics as Fabric Crochet, Locker Hooking and Toothbrush Rugs.

She is a member and past president of Empire Quilters, and a former member of Manhattan Quilters Guild. Her teaching credits include many guilds, conferences, including Quilting By The Lake and The Great American Quilt Festival, as well as at the American Folk Art Museum.

In addition to quilting, Judy is also interested in Egyptology, astronomy and opera. She has a warped fascination with Lizzie Borden, and an unhealthy addiction to Sudoku. She lives in Forest Hills, Queens, with eight sewing machines, thousands of yards of fabric and three cats.

Tipsy Stripsphotos by Cindy Russell
NY beautyphotos by Cindy Russell
The Wanderer
photos by Cindy Russell

Tipsy Strips
Designed and made by
Judy Doenias

Quilt As You Go NY Beauty
Designed and made by
Judy Doenias

The Wanderer
Designed and made by
Judy Doenias



starblock Teacher Bio: Christine Frederick Janove


Learning hand sewing as a child, I graduated to a sewing machine at age ten, making Barbie doll clothes, clothes for myself, and then clothes for my youngest sister (my own real-live doll).  My degree in textiles is from Seton Hill University ('73) in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.   My senior thesis was "Quilting as an Art Form," written at a time when this was not a widely accepted notion. That year, together with my college roommate, I made my first quilt.

After moving to New York, I worked for clothing, textile, and pattern companies. I designed and sewed the gowns for my bridesmaids and myself when I got married, made soft sculpture toys and little dresses when my daughters were born. I didn't begin to quilt in earnest until the early 1990's, when I became one of the founding members of the Quilters' Guild of Brooklyn

Most recently, I designed the 2008 Quilt Show Raffle Quilt, and headed the team of guild members who pieced and finished its construction. I have worked part time at The City Quilter since 2002, as a teacher and staffer. I teach "Intro to Patchwork by Machine," and truly enjoy introducing this art form to new quilters.  I also teach project and technique classes, such as "Fabric Postcards", "Binding" or "Machine Quilting".

I quilt with seniors at recreation programs throughout the city and am one of the quilting artists in residence for ArtsConnection, working with high school students.  My personal quilting work tends to be traditional, with an artistic twist, usually upbeat colors, with machine quilting or hand embellishments.  I still like to make fabric gifts. My goals as an instructor are to create enthusiasm for this art form, teach basic and proper techniques, then allow students the freedom to design, embellish and have fun with needle, thread and fabric--making each work into his or her own expression.


brooklynraffequilt
postcard
applique

FITTING IN
Designed and made by
Christine Janove

Postcard
Designed and made by
Christine Janove

Spring Applique
Designed and made by
Christine Janove



block Teacher Bio: Diane Rode Schneck


I come from a long line of quilters, sewers and embroiderers. All of the women in my family were involved in some kind of craft or handwork. My father was an architect, so I inherited the drawing and drafting genes, and a fascination with design. I learned hand embroidery at a very early age, and taught myself the basics of machine piecing when I was in high school in 1974. The quilters of Grace Lutheran Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, taught me everything I know about hand quilting.

What I love about quilting is its infinite variety. This has made it hard for me to concentrate on just one thing over the years. I have done a little bit of everything, from folk art to Serious Art, but my favorite things are scrap quilts, (especially string quilts) crazy quilts, hand embroidery, and hand appliqué, especially the album quilts of the mid 19th century.

I want to try it all! The recent interest in surface design and mixed media have made this even better. There really are no limits to what you can do, and what techniques or materials you can use. I really try to pass this enthusiasm along to my students.

I have worked and taught in quilt stores since 1979, and have been teaching in New York since 1986. When I’m not at The City Quilter, I work part time for The Elder Craftsmen, coordinating crafts classes at senior centers around the city. I also teach at guilds and conferences all over the country, and I design and publish my own monthly appliqué block club called Heart And Hand, with subscribers all over the world.


breakfast red tv
A Diner Ode, 1995
Rose Sampler Quilt Top, 2005
Patterns from "Rose Sampler Supreme" by Rosemary Makhan
The Late Show, 1993


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