My name is Bethanne Nemesh, and I LOVE quilting. I love everything about it…the conceptualization, the design, the execution, and especially the finish! I am all about the finish details. I began my quilting journey more than 20 years ago, in college. A professor helped me see that I didn’t have to tolerate the “boring” calicos of the era. I could go out and dye, or manipulate my materials to match my vision…which allowed me to think of quilts as more than the family heirlooms I had grown up with. Then, batik fabric arrived on the scene and I was completely hooked.
I began my longarm machine sewing business in 2008 with the purchase of an A-1 brand machine. My innovative approach creating secondary designs, in generally traditional quilts, as well as unique free-hand quilting patterns, quickly earned me a thriving quilt-for-hire business. However, sharing my work on-line, and sharing my personal quilts on the national show circuit, changed my business forever. My true love is in teaching others to quilt. I love interacting with my students. My favorite classes to teach are actually practical ones. I firmly believe in each student having a strong grasp of foundation quilting skills, and if they choose to quilt for hire, a firm understanding of the link between style, and time spent quilting, and how that relates to their personal business model. I love encouraging my students to express themselves uniquely in their art, ignore the trends of the quilt world, and find their own creative path.
On a personal level, my heart is in my show quilts. My quilts are deeply personal to me, expressing a story in cloth. My pictographic quilts feature a completely original collage of flora and fauna, depicting individual ecosystems, layered with meaning. My contemporary whole cloth quilts feature a unique intertwined and interlocked style, melding traditional elements with the fantastic. My yarn couched pieces are more for fun and exploration of a new media, but one that I find a great deal of pleasure in.
I hope you will follow me on my quilting journey, here, or even better, arrange to take a class with me so I can meet you in person. I frequently travel to both guilds and national or international conventions. A current list of classes and teaching engagements can be found on the teaching tab.
I have written a number of books to support my teaching, created pattern kits, designed quilting patterns for purchase, as well as published digital classes through AQS and the iquilt program. A link to any of these can be found on the shopping tab.
