Our Instructors
 

Harriet Hargrave: (National Teacher) Harriet comes from a family of quilters. Her grandmother, mother, and several of her eight aunts quilted. Her mother tried to teach Harriet to hand quilt in the early ‘70s, but to no avail. Harriet mastered machine embroidery in the mid-1970’s, and adapted machine quilting from there. She was machine quilting when the local quilt guilds thought machine quilting was not kosher, let alone machine quilting! She was teaching machine piecing, appliqué, and quilting through the adult education system by 1978, and opened her store, Harriet’s Treadle Arts, alongside her mother in April, 1981. In 1983, Martie Michelle saw Harriet’s antique reproduction pieces and was amazed at how hand quilted they appeared. Harriet essentially introduced nylon thread to the quilt world through those quilts. By 1984, she was demonstrating at Houston Quilt Market and teaching the last day of Mary Ellen Hopkins week long seminars. The first edition of Heirloom Machine Quilting was released in March of 1987. The 4th edition was updated, rewritten and released in 2004. The first edition of Mastering Machine Appliqué was released in 1991 and then revised and re-released in 2002, From Fiber to Fiber in 1997 (out of print), is the quilters bible for textiles and their care and keeping. In 2000, Harriet co-authored The Art of Classic Quilt Making with her friend Sharon Craig and is the ultimate guide to learning how to piece. Harriet has also worked side by side with H.D Wilbanks of Hobbs bonded fibers to develop an exceptional line of natural fiber battings to meet quilters’ needs. P & B Textiles has printed four very successful lines of reproduction fabrics for Harriet. She is now working on more fabric for P & B. In 1994 Harriet was chosen by a panel of her peers as one of the 88 leaders of the Quilt World for a book released by the same title out of Japan, and in 2006 was nominated for Professional Quilter’s Teacher of the Year.. She has traveled extensively worldwide since 1985, including England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and every state in the US. She has definitely spread the word that machine quilting is okay, and that our quilts are not machine quilted, but “hand quilted with an electric needle.”
 

Debbie Caffrey: (National Teacher) Debbie is a self-published author of twelve books, dozens of patterns, and over 150 mystery quilt patterns. It’s Hip to be Square and Delectably Simple Mountains are two books in Debbie’s new, rapidly growing series, Becoming a Confident Quilter, Taking the mystery out of great quilts! By teaching the processes of quilting, Debbie takes the mystery out of great quilts; thus, creating a new class of confident quilters. Debbie is always urging guilds and conferences to allow her to offer process classes. She believes that learning skills and how to apply them is more important than duplicating a project. Debbie teaches energy-filled workshops nationwide. She has had the pleasure of teaching in Australia, England and Iceland.
 

Karen Dockter: Karen grew up south of Minot, with a short detour to Jamestown and then back to Minot. She made her first quilt by herself when she was nine years old. Karen was inspired by a book she had seen. She was very ambitious and although none of her family or friends quilted she followed her dreams. Karen has made many quilts through the years, especially while employed with J & R Vacuum and Sewing. Now, even though she has a busy schedule, she still enjoys quilting among her stash. Karen has been married to Warren for over 25 years. They have one daughter, Randi.
 

Kate Eelkema: Kate, an elementary school media specialist, lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. She enjoys combining her background in education with her love of quilting to help others create their own works of art. A National Quilting Association Certified Judge, she judges quilt shows, teaches quiltmaking workshops, gives lectures about various aspects of quilting, and always has quilts hanging on the walls of her library.
 

Jennifer Feller: A member of the Minot Prairie Quilt Guild since 1987, when her sister, Connie Iverson, introduced her to the world of quilting. She has served as an officer of the guild/or festival for about 18 years. She is originally from Binford, ND and currently resides in Surrey, ND with her husband, Bob. She has three sons and enjoys babysitting her three grandsons, all of whom are her pride and joy.
 

Flint Forsberg: Flint is a Minot guild member. As a profession, he is a realtor. He is a person with many talents. In his off time he has been know to bake some wonderful goodies. You will see him on occasion delivering them to friends in the downtown business district. Flint is also our guild webmaster and enjoys using computers. He has been very helpful to some of our guild members when they need guidance with the EQ-6 program.
 

Vicki Hamilton: Some of you may know Vicki. She is part owner of the Copper Thimble, a quilt store in Miles City, Montana. Vicki loves to quilt. She teaches many classes at her quilt store. This is a busy lady and if she is teaching you a class you can be assured it will look wonderful and be easy to put together. Vicki’s classes will be directed towards the beginning quilters but don’t let that stop you more advanced sewers looking for a less challenging yet a beautiful finished product.
 

Merry Green: Merry is the Education Coordinator for J & R Vacuum & Sewing Center of Minot. She is responsible for developing and teaching classes in the store and providing operator lessons to customers. Merry has a BS degree in Home Economics Education and a minor in Textile and Clothing from NDSU. She was employed for twenty years as a County Extension Agent in Stark-Billings County and McHenry County. She also was an instructor for Manitoba Agriculture for five years and owned and operated a fabric store and alterations business in Killarney, Manitoba. She taught many adult and youth sewing classes while working. Merry began sewing in 4-H and constructed garments for herself, family members and friends. In recent years, she has expanded her sewing skills to include machine embroidery and quilting. Merry and her husband live in Granville, ND, and have three grown children and one grandchild.
 

Lynn Heald: Quilting came into my life by accident after moving to Minot, North Dakota in 2000. Needing new friends and something to do in this cold new place I signed up for a quilting class. I really wasn’t interested in learning to quilt, but I figured I would make some friends and I could then drop quilting. You know how that went—I am the only one still quilting. Those quilt classes led me to the Minot Prairie Quilt Guild where I found more unbelievable friendships, education, inspiration, and an artistic sense I never knew I had. It has been a fabulous journey—and I’m still traveling. In the last few years I have tried to broaden my skills into other aspects of quilting. I have been teaching since 2005 and recently designed my first original piece. The fascinating thing about quilting is that there are always new techniques to learn and new products with which to experiment. Meanwhile, I continue to do traditional quilting.
 

Kris Jacobson: Kris started sewing at an early age in 4-H and has never stopped. She acquired a Textile and Clothing minor in college and sewed many of her own clothes. She started quilting in the 80’s. In 1990, she took a class from Harriet Hargrave and that has defined her quilting ever since. In 1993, she was the first president of a new guild, The Badlands Quilter’s Guild. The guild started a retreat to bring new quilting information to the SW corner of North Dakota. This has allowed Kris to take classes from many national teachers. She was born and raised in southwest North Dakota and lives on a ranch, ‘in the middle of nowhere,’ with her husband.
 

Kathleen Moorhead Johnson: began quilting in 1983. She started teaching in 1986 after learning how to machine quilt using Harriet Hargrave’s techniques. Since then, she has taught numerous classes in ND and Montana. She loves teaching techniques that make quilting faster and easier for her students and seeing the instant success they can achieve. She has won numerous awards for her quilts including Best of Show, Best Use of Color, Best Original Design and Best Design interpretation. Three of her quilts have been juried into the AQS quilt show in Paducah, KY. Her quilt “Autumn Splendor” was included in the book Great American Quilts 2000, and her quilt, “Jungle Rings” was included in an American Quilter’s Society Art Engagement Calendar. Her quilt, “Cornucopia” is included in Margaret Miller’s book, Smashing Sets.
 

Gladys Lowell: Although her mother made quilts and taught her to sew at a young age, Gladys did not discover the joy of quilting until much later. After joining the Minot guild in 1991, quilting took over her life. Since that time, she has exhibited many quilts at North Dakota shows and won many ribbons including two “Best of Show” awards at the Minot Festival. An avid collector of fabric, she uses many fabrics in her quilts. Gladys has been teaching quilt making classes since 1998.
 

Norma Lee Minter-Miller: September 1995 I took my first quilting class taught by Kathy Johnson. I came into the quilting world with a garment construction background. I had been sewing since my Grandmother taught me how to make aprons when I was seven years old. I am a retired bookkeeper. I love color! I am a fabricaholic! I enjoy selecting the fabric and deciding on the color combinations for a new project. I enjoy the drafting, designing and piecing. I have most of my quilts commercially quilted. I make utility quilts; I don’t make heirloom quilts. I want my quilts to be used but not abused. My ‘quilting mission’ has been to find the most simplified method to piece complicated looking blocks. If you see my name on a class as the instructor it is almost a guarantee that it will be simple, quick and easy piecing techniques. I taught my first quilting class in October 1997. I have been a member of Dakota Prairie Quilter’s Guild since 1995 and the Badland’s Quilter Guild since 1998. I serve as treasurer for the Badland’s Guild and the Badland’s Retreat. I have lived in Williston since 1974. I have three daughters, five grandsons, two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter. I have been to married to John Ray Miller since 1992.
 

Julie Rostad: Julie owns the quilt shop, Bernina Plus, in downtown Minot. She has been sewing since age five. Quilting is her favorite type of sewing, BUT, she also enjoys garment making, home décor, stained glass, ceramics and many other forms of art.