Hello from Sue!
June 2008
Welcome to my website! Thanks visiting and I hope you enjoy browsing.
A few things to mention first…
- I am very excited to be teaching with my sister Pat Holly for MAQS- The Museum of the American Quilters Society- September 17-20, 2008. This is one of the few opportunities students will have to attend a workshop that both Pat and I will be teaching the machine appliqué techniques from our latest book. There are still some openings and you can check into the details about this great workshop by going to their website: www.quiltmuseum.org
- Congratulations to Pat for her winning Best Miniature at the 2008 AQS Show in Paducah with her great quilt called “Palampore”!
“Appliqué Inspirations” a pattern line that Pat and I are designing for JWD Publishing has two new additions. The first pattern “Ashley’s Flower Basket” was introduced last year and I have been using it for one of my workshops to teach machine appliqué techniques. “Jessica’s Flower Basket” a variation on the flower basket theme came out at the 2007 Fall Market… And the latest pattern “Circle ‘round the Stars” designed by Pat was introduced in May at Spring Market and has been well received! Both of these current patterns as well as Ashley’s Flower Basket are available for purchase by going to my store. JWD Publishing is a wonderful pattern company, founded by Joen Wolfrom, a leader in the quilt industry. For information on the other designers and patterns available go to www.jwdpublishing.com .
The first part of 2008 has been hectic and I have visited many great places and I have met great quilters! I always start the year with a quilt retreat at The Icehouse Quilt Shop in Grayling, Michigan. This year the theme was machine appliqué and students choose from Ashley or Jessica’s Flower Basket for their project! Next year, Pat and I will be teaching together- Pat will have a miniature project and I will have a quilting project for students to work on… I was fortunate to spend much of the winter in warm places! I taught for the Desert Quilters of Nevada in Las Vegas and went from there to Phoenix to teach at Quilt Camp in the Desert- both were great! After a short trip home I then went on a wonderful cruise on the Mexican Riviera with Quilt Seminar’s at Sea. It was a fabulous 10 days with the most beautiful weather and the most enthusiastic group of quilters. I would highly recommend any cruise sponsored by Quilt Seminar’s at Sea! It was then on to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show, Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, A Mountain Quiltfest, Machine Quilter’s Exposition and a few great guilds in between! I am now looking forward to many great events to complete 2008- a trip to Spain in July will be a highlight! I am also looking forward to teaching for two weeks at “Quilting by the Lake” in Morrisville, New York this summer.
Currently I am booking workshops for 2010. I have a few scattered openings in 2009, if you are interested check Sue’s schedule for availability. Please check my workshops page for a list of my workshops and lectures. I am including supply lists for each workshop and photos if available. My biography and fees and requirements page are on the website. I have been using a camera and projector in the classroom for demos and it has been a fabulous teaching aid. Because of this I have a few extra requirements in the classroom, please be sure to read this in the classroom requirements. I have achieved my 2008 goal of having my lectures in power point. So for all my lectures, I will bring my own projector and computer and present my images using power point!
My shopping page has my two books (including the newest “Stitched Raw Edge Appliqué” co-authored with my sister, Pat Holly). It also has some items I use and sell when I am on the road teaching. My thread line- King Tut “Tone on Tones” from Superior Threads is available in a 16 spool set. This is a great thread for both machine quilting and machine appliqué. If you are interested in individual spools are larger quantities go to www.Superiorthreads.com .
Please visit my Gallery of Quilts page which features a sampling of my quilts. I have included information about our award winning “The Beatles Quilt” and “The Space Quilt” as I am often asked 
to explain the details of these collaborative quilts. I am working on my goal of creating new quilts in 2008, so look for these soon!
My family is doing great! We had a very happy event in our family this year. On March 29, our daughter Jessi married Ryan Kavanagh in Philadelphia! It was a beautiful wedding. Look for a few wedding pictures on my travel page. Our yellow lab, Rubi, is still the best dog ever and now has a new friend- Bailey, the yellow lab, Jessi and Ryan’s dog! I hope to see you on the road this year, doing what I love to do- teaching machine quilting and machine appliqué. Thank you for visiting my website and please come back soon…
Fondly,
Sue Nickels
I am proud to be participating in the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, a program raising awareness and funding research for Alzheimer's disease. It has two parts: a traveling art quilt exhibit interpreting Alzheimer's in fiber art that will tour the U.S. for three years, and an on-going sale of small art quilts. All proceeds will go to Alzheimer's research. www.AlzQuilts.org
