Quilters Calendar & Guild Network

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Iowa

Diane L Murtha

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Home: Iowa

Diane is a Zoom-ready Quilter, Fiber Artist, Teacher and Lecturer with enthusiasm to spare!

Quilting for over 30 years, she gravitated to art quilts 10 years ago. Her quilts and articles are in several books and magazines. Her quilts also travel nationally/internationally in multiple special exhibits, including Houston’s International Quilt Festival and Paducah’s National Quilt Museum.

Diane completely reinvigorated her love of quilting since she started doing Challenge quilt projects. The Challenge rules encourage her to try new things, learn new techniques, make mistakes, AND keep trying! Diane shares this enthusiasm and excitement in ALL of her Lectures & Workshops! It doesn’t matter if you are a traditional quilter, modern, or art quilter – we all can learn from challenging ourselves. Diane will inspire and encourage you to do just that through any of her lectures and workshops!

She has 3 Virtual Lectures and several workshops available.  Here are two:

Challenge I – Accept the Challenge Lecture – An informative and humorous perspective on my quilt challenge experiences, including a trunk and slide show. I’ll discuss what I’ve learned from the various challenges, other ways to challenge yourself and sources of inspiration. And most importantly how challenges can expand your quilting skills and inspire all your quilting!  It’s Super popular – with wide audience appeal. You will laugh and hopefully be inspired.

Modified Quilt As You Go Workshop –  A great technique for anyone intimidating by quilting a large quilt or for quilting in small spaces like retreats, condos, or for me, my RV.  This class yields perfectly quilted blocks embellished with a variety of applique options. Quilting thru each block and batting individually makes quilting easy for both new and experienced quilters alike – no bulk or awkward struggling with a large sandwiched quilt.  This technique can be used to create any size quilt that can be appliqued in endless options. So much fun! 

Please visit my website for more details: https://www.dianeLmurtha.com

Instagram: dianeLmurtha

Contact Diane via email at dlmurtha2018 @ gmail.com [remove spaces]

I’d be honored to speak or teach to your guild or small group of friends. I hope to hear from you.  Until then – Stay Safe and Happy Quilting Thanks 

Please let Diane know that you found her on The Quilters Calendar!

It is my pleasure to recognize the outstanding job Diane Murtha did in presenting two of her Zoom workshops for our Guild.

Diane’s workshop  “Quilt as You Go“ was our first venture into virtual interactive Zoom meetings. Due to Diane’s leadership and technical knowledge, it was an unexpectedly delightful and stress free experience.

Diane is an engaging, personable and talented instructor. Her desire to ensure all participants are successful was evident in her pre-class instructions, preparation and planning. The individual attention she gave each student made us feel she was there right with us. She also provided the resources to be sure that we had everything we needed during the class. Aside from learning new skills she made the intimidating world of virtual classes fun and by the end of the class we felt we were physically all in the same space.

Our guild has taken additional classes from Diane and look forward to more offerings from her.
Diane Murtha’s  was very easy to work with: responding quickly to emails and following up on questions/concerns. Diane has set a high bar for all the instructors who follow.

She opened up an important world for us.  As a small Guild in the middle of the Pacific Ocean we can now access high-quality instructors without having the expense of their traveling to Hawaii. As you can tell, we highly recommend Diane Murtha.
        Mahalo.                 Maui Quilt Guild       Dian Gruber past VP/Program Chair

Diane Murtha’s Zoom lecture on Challenge Quilts was a real delight. I will admit to laughing out loud at several points as she shared a number of her “failures.” Such an important and humbling lesson for all of us. I laughed and ooh’ed so much that my husband asked me the next morning, “Who were you talking to?” While it would have been nice to be in person to hear a loud and appreciative audience, the Zoom format worked extremely well. Diane knows what’s she’s doing with technology, with quilting, and with engaging an audience. I recommend her highly. ~Elizabeth Bell, Vice-President for Programming, Piecemakers Quilt Guild of Brandon

Deanne Eisenman

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Deanne-Eisenman2Home: Osage, Iowa

Snuggles Quilts Owner/Designer

I began my pattern design company, Snuggles Quilts, in May of 2003. I have since successfully marketed my patterns to shops around the country from my home based business in Osage, Iowa. I have been quilting for over 25 years and have designed over 100 individual patterns ranging from pillows and table runners to lap quilts.

I have had 27 patterns published in a variety of quilt magazines since 2008; three chosen for the cover. Recently, my patterns have appeared in Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting, McCall’s Quilting, Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks and Primitive Quilts & Projects Magazine. I have also had patterns featured in five calendars over the years.

My first book, Country-Fresh Quilts, was published by Martingale & Company in August of 2008. In February of 2011 my second book with
Martingale, Scrap Quilts Go Country, was released. My third book, Blooming Patchwork, was just published by Kansas City Star Quilts (now owned by C & T Publishing) in October of 2014. Quilts from my last two books are currently touring quilt shops around the country for trunk shows.

I have lectured and taught many classes in quilt shops and at guilds around the Mid-West. Most of my classes are based on one of my favorite techniques, needle-turn hand appliqué. I have also taught classes in wool appliqué and general beginner pattern piecing.

Working at home in my studio has been a dream come true. I love the entire process of developing a pattern. From designing to writing the pattern to constructing a sample, there is no better way to spend a day. Seeing a project emerge from the initial drawings on graph paper to a finished quilt is what keeps my days interesting! I am married to a great guy, Craig with whom I have raised two wonderful children, Alyssa and Mitchell.

They have been a great support system when it comes to my quilting “obsession”. Two other members of the family are our cats, Snuggles, the company namesake (who believes she owns every quilt sample I make) and Addie Lou who is often found snoozing on top of a stack of quilts in my studio.

My web site, www.snugglesquilts.com, showcases all of my designs.

Please let Deanne know you found her on The Quilter’s Calendar!