Interview with Mary & Jen Cannizzaro

Annabel Wrigley is an Australian fabric designer, textile artist and author living in Virginia.  She is the author of five sewing books for children with C&T Publishing and has spent the past 10 years teaching sewing classes to children and adults.  Her latest book, Sew Unicorns, Dragons and Mermaids will be released in November, and is the perfect sewing book for kids and kids at heart.     Instagram - @littlepincushionstudio  Website – littlepincushionstudio.com                     Annabelwrigleytextiles.com 

I’m Teri, the Chief Creative Weirdo at TerifiCreations, and the author of Color, Thread & Free-Motion Quilting Learn to Stitch with Reckless Abandon. I’m an accidental free motion quilter, starting after working on a hand quilting project for several years, and just wanting that quilt done. I offer quilters the information they need to do the free-motion quilting they want. terificreations.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TeriLucasquilts/ Instagram @terilucas Twitter @terificreations

Bernie Tobisch was born in Germany and moved to Canada as a young boy. He grew up in Saskatchewan and moved to Alberta in his early twenties, where he began his career as a sewing machine technician with Singer. He became a dealer after a few years and continued to service machines. In the late 1980s, he moved to the Vancouver region, opened up shop, and has been there since. He has a daughter, Bonnie and son, Gord. He also has one grandson, Dylan, whom he thinks would make a great technician!  Bernie is happily married to his wife Shelley. They met in the sewing machine business and have worked together for the last twenty years teaching classes on Precision Piecing, machine quilting, and getting to know your sewing machine. He also still services sewing machines.  Bernie enjoys sailing and fishing and if he ever retires, would love to sail off into the sunset! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2dPJqY7vHE&t=19s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH27GOsVBAY&t=2s

FAITH * FAMILY * QUILTS* CATS I’m a Southern California girl, wife, and mom to 3 children and one spoiled cat.  I’ve been a quilter for 23 years and a sewist since I can remember! I design and sell quilt patterns, I am a fabric designer for Riley Blake Designs, and I write a blog called Jedi Craft Girl. I love connecting with the quilting community, let’s be friends!     Blog: www.jedicraftgirl.com IG: @jedicraftgirl FB @jedicraftgirlblog Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JediCraftGirl   Scaredy Cat Fabric: https://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/Fabric/Current-Collections/Scaredy-Cat

You can call me by my nickname “Marney”, but my real name is Mary Hertel.  I design paper pieced patterns.  I am an art instructor, pattern designer, mother and friend. You can find me in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, but I do not have a “brick and mortar” shop. I sell on-line and at Quilt Shows around my area.  You may also find some of my patterns at your local quilt shop.  I’ve had a super creative drive all of my life.  My designs are fueled by my past.  Growing up in a rural farm community gave me a love for nature and animals, as you will see from my designs.  My great love for children’s artwork is also evident in my wonky animals…which no doubt comes from teaching children’s art for thirty-five years.  My motto:  “A Day Can’t Go By Without Creating Something…”

Mary Cannizzaro and Jen Cannizzaro are mother and daughter, friends and business partners. They are two of the most energetic people you will ever meet. Mary remembers the sewing machine on the dining room table of her childhood home, moved only on Sunday’s to make room for the family’s dinner. Mary learned how to sew at an early age and began quilting in the early 1990s, when her hometown asked for volunteers to make blocks for a raffle quilt. She is an award-winning quilter who has shown her quilts in international shows. Jen is a software trainer by day, quilter by night and weekend. Quilting fell into her lap accidentally in the early 2000s, when she took the place of one of Mary’s friends who was unable to attend classes she had signed up for. Her first quilt, Self-Portrait of Jen as a Redhead, finished at 7” square and became their company logo years later. In 2014, the duo opened Cannizzaro Creations, a quilting studio in Rockland, Massachusetts.  They began longarm quilting for many quilters in the area, with Mary traveling to Massachusetts a few times a month to quilt. They have been commissioned to created dozens of quilts for fans of their work.

Catherine Redford was born in England where she learned to knit and sew as a young girl. After relocating from London to Naperville, Illinois, she learned to quilt and never looked back. She's an award-winning quilter, an active member of her local guilds, and a popular teacher at the local and national level. Catherine is a frequent magazine contributor and has enjoyed being a guest on Quilting Arts TV. She is enjoying the resurgence of interest in handwork with a new embroidery book published this fall, and with two DVDs and a book on Modern Machine Quilting techniques, Catherine delights in finishing her own quilts on a domestic machine!

I like to tell people I make the biggest diamonds in the world. The adventure started nearly 30 years ago when an image of a gorgeous gem captured my imagination. As a new quiltmaker, I was unsure how to transform that image into a quilt, but knew there had to be a way. I began searching for the right techniques and, seven years later, made my first gem.  My series entitled “Bourbon Diamonds” celebrates Kentucky’s favorite spirit. My current series is based on the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. My work has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and national competitions. The National Quilt Museum (Paducah, KY) is planning an exhibit of my work in 2020. My gems have been featured in print and online publications such as Quilting Arts Magazine, McCall’s Quilting, Quiltfolk, and Les Nouvelles: Patchwork et Creation Textiles (France Patchwork). My first book with C&T Publishing, “Gemstone Quilts”, is scheduled for release in October 2020.

Heather’s passion for quilt design is founded in her past as a landscape oil painter and her desire to be creative.  She first tried quilting in 1995 but didn’t catch the quilting bug until 2011 when she designed, pieced and hand quilted her first queen size quilt.  Shortly after that she discovered modern quilting and from that point on Heather has been designing and making quilts whenever possible.  Her quilts and patterns have been featured in various quilting publications and is an active member in various local guilds included The Modern Quilt Guild.  Daisy Aschehoug’s quilts have been published in Modern Quilts Unlimited, Love Patchwork and Quilting, Simply Moderne, and Modern Patchwork. She’s won awards and has projects included in multiple compilations. Before quilting, Daisy guided rafts, fought wildfires, and facilitated contentious natural resource management plans.

Holly Brown works as a Tour Escort for Craftours.  She loves her work, bringing together her two passions- travel and crafts.  Holly was introduced to a variety of traditional crafts as a child, and has carried this interest with her throughout her life.  She is outgoing and loves making new friends, and she takes pride and pleasure in her job, introducing her clients to the places she loves and the crafts that excite her.  When she’s not away on some Craftour expedition she loves to spend time in her studio quilting.  She shares her life with her husband and two cats.