Our Teachers

Arlene — needlework/bead artist, designer and teacher — draws her inspiration for the projects in her classes from more than 35 years of collecting vintage ribbonry and beadwork.

Arlene Baker

A needlework and bead artist, designer and teacher, Arlene draws her inspiration for the projects in her classes from more than 35 years of collecting vintage ribbonry and beadwork. She specializes in easy to follow, step-by-step instructions written for novice and experienced alike.

Current Classes

Piecemakers teacher Nadine Berthiaume

Nadine Berthiaume

Nadine Berthiaume has been on a lifelong knitting journey since her introduction to knitting at 14, and began teaching knitting classes at 16 in her mother’s former knitting store. Nadine has been designing her own patterns over 20 years, and this fine needle art has become an integral part of her life.

Current Classes

Beth Butterfield is a mixed media artist and florist who is passionate about being creative outside the lines.

Beth Butterfield

Elizabeth is a florist and mixed media artist who is passionate about being creative outside the lines. Her whimsical fairy gardens and fresh holiday wreaths are a favorite around here! She has been teaching at Piecemakers for fifteen years.

Current Classes

Diane Calderwood is an innovative gourd artist who has taught gourd art at Piecemakers since 2001.

Diane Calderwood

Diane Calderwood is an innovative gourd artist who has taught gourd art at Piecemakers since 2001. She is now teaching new mixed media projects as well.

Watch for future classes!

Sheilah Cleary has been passionate about needle arts all her life.

Sheilah Cleary

Sheilah has been passionate about needle arts all her life. She teaches jewelry design, beadwork, knitting, crochet and has taught many other crafts at Piecemakers where she’s been for over 30 years.

Current Classes

Teja is a respected sculptor, illustrator, impressionist painter and collage artist and has exhibited at the Laguna Festival and several art galleries.

Teja Cooling

Teja is a respected sculptor, illustrator, impressionist painter and collage artist and has exhibited at the Laguna Festival and several art galleries. She has been teaching her ever popular Vintage Bobble tree class for the past 10 years at Piecemakers.

Watch for future classes!

As an artist and craftsperson, Kathy Davis has explored and taught various media including clays, fibers and resins to create dolls and jewelry.

Kathy Davis

As an artist and craftsperson, Kathy has explored and taught various media including clays, fibers and resins to create dolls and jewelry. She enjoys introducing her students to new possibilities, and has taught at Piecemakers for close to 30 years!

Current Classes

Sally Drummond teaches sewing, pattern drafting and textile knowledge at Piecemakers Country Store.

Sally Drummond

Sally is a native California designer/seamstress and lifelong lover of fabrics with a degree in fashion design. She has taught sewing skills, pattern drafting, and textile knowledge at the college level, and looks forward to sharing her skills and knowledge to help her students flourish.

Current Classes

Patti Dubreuil creates and teaches her original patterns and designs for handbags, pillows, quilts as well as Tuffet classes.

Patti Dubreuil

Patti D of Patti D Designs creates and teaches her original patterns and designs for handbags, pillows, quilts as well as Tuffet classes. In addition, Patti is a Laura Heine Certified Instructor for collages.

Watch for future classes!

Sylvia Fellows — a lace making teacher at Piecemakers.

Sylvia Fellows

Sylvia has been making lace since she started crocheting at age 10;  she taught herself to tat at age 13 and has been making bobbin lace for 40 years.  She also does many other forms of lace such as needle lace, Battenburg lace, Reticella and Amelia Ars lace.

Current Classes

Rhonda Church Finfrock

Rhonda is a California citrus farmer, retired elementary school teacher, and lifetime sewist. She enjoys traveling and teaching others how to rescue and refashion sustainable clothing with painting and stitching techniques.

Current Classes

Chris Flynn comes to us from the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California.

Chris Flynn

Chris comes to us from the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California. Chris enjoys antique laces, linens, and wallpapers as she creates fabric books, journals, purses, and just about anything that serves both a purpose and is visually pleasing.

Current Classes

Karen Fraser excels in teaching silk ribbon embroidery, stump work, thread painting, lace dyeing and embellishments.

Karen Fraser

Karen has been teaching at Piecemakers since 2003. She excels in teaching silk ribbon embroidery, stump work, thread painting, lace dyeing and embellishments.

Current Classes

Piecemakers bear making teacher Jaimee Gerard

Jaimee Gerard

Jaimee learned bear making from her mentor, teacher, and dear friend Evelyn Penfield, and is thrilled to teach the Teddy Bear Necessities class at Piecemakers. She looks forward to fostering creativity, sparking imagination and building lasting memories with her students.

Current Classes

Tacy Gray, long arm quilter and quilt designer who teaches at Piecemakers.

Tacy Gray

Tacy’s passion for quilting began in a hand-piecing class in eighth grade. Since then, she’s shared her passion by running a quilt shop with her mother-in-law in Minnesota, designing her own patterns, working as a long arm quilter, and teaching quilting to kids and adults.

Current Classes

Two of Donna's areas of expertise are quilting/sewing and baking.

Donna

Two of Donna's areas of expertise are quilting/sewing and baking. She teaches classes in both, including the Apple Pie Baking class, and is one of the bakers of Piecemakers famous apple pie!

Current Classes

Linda Illumanardi has been teaching at Piecemakers since 2018. Her specialty is botanical printing and natural dyeing.

Linda Illumanardi

Linda has been teaching at Piecemakers since 2018. Her specialty is botanical printing and natural dyeing. She is currently exploring a variety of California dyes with roots, bark, leaves and cones that she harvested from San Francisco to Orange County.

Watch for future classes!

Dana E. Jones is a quiltmaker, artist, lecturer and visiting teacher at Piecemakers.

Dana E. Jones

Dana is an artist, quiltmaker, journalist, visiting teacher from Colorado, and author of Pagtinabangay: The Quilts and Quiltmakers of Caohagan Island. She is a former editor of Quilters Newsletter magazine and has taught at international quilt shows, as well as shops across the U.S. and Canada.

Current Classes

Bonny Knoll's passion is crafting and appliqueing, teaching students to make totes, backpacks, or whimsical home decor items.

Bonny Knoll

Bonny's passion is crafting and appliqueing, teaching students to make totes, backpacks, or whimsical  home dec items. Specializing in using the latest and greatest tools, Bonny helps her students make their projects look professional.

Current Classes

Gigi Lenker is a local fiber artist who has a passion for creating yarn, weaving, and simple basket making including pine needle basketry!

Gigi Lenker

Gigi Lenker is a local fiber artist who has a passion for creating yarn, weaving, and simple basket making including pine needle basketry!

Current Classes

Hanne Lohde specializes in wool quilting, hand applique and embroidery techniques on her original quilts, bags, pincushions and more.

Hanne Lohde

An award-winning designer and teacher, Hanne specializes in wool quilting, hand applique and embroidery techniques on her original quilts, bags, pincushions and 3-dimensional critters.

Current Classes

Lisa Mattock — quilt designer and teacher from Australia.

Lisa Mattock

We are pleased to welcome Lisa Mattock from Australia to Piecemakers! Lisa and her company “Forage, by Lisa Mattock” is about seeking out reclaimed and vintage textile treasures and upcycling them into beautiful pieces that speak to the soul of the stitcher.

Watch for future classes!

Joanna teaches some of Piecemakers cooking classes including scones and lemon curd.

Joanna

You may know Joanna from Piecemakers class sample room or as one of the organizers of our annual fairs. She also takes time to teach the yummy scones and lemon curd that are available in Piecemakers Country Tea Room!

Current Classes

Leslie O'Leary is an internationally recognized, master doll artist who loves teaching at Piecemakers!

Leslie O'Leary

Leslie is an internationally recognized, master doll artist who loves teaching at Piecemakers! She has been with us for over 25 years, and is devoted to her students and her art.

Watch for future classes!

Evelyn Penfield has taught her whimsical world of Heirloom bear designs and all types of animals from California to New Zealand and Australia for over 40 years.

Evelyn Penfield

For over 40 years Evelyn has taught her whimsical world of Heirloom bear designs and all types of animals from California to New Zealand and Australia. She has delighted Piecemakers students with creations from bears to monkeys, squirrels, bunnies, embroidered pincushions, heirloom babies, and more!

Current Classes

Danna Phalen teaches Alcohol Ink Art on a variety of substrates including YUPO paper, tile, jewelry, ornaments and more.

Danna Phalen

Danna has been teaching at Piecemakers for 7 years. Her specialty is Alcohol Ink Art on a variety of substrates including YUPO paper, tile, jewelry, ornaments and more.

Current Classes

Sue Pletl teaches hand embroidered greeting cards and bookmarks.

Sue Pletl

Sue Pletl has been embroidering for most of her life, starting with pillowcases when she was a little girl. She hopes to inspire you to create your memories with beautiful hand-crafted embroidered cards and bookmarks, and is sure you will love hand crafts as much as she does!

Current Classes

Rossanna teaches the ever popular Adult Sewing and Design classes as well as children's sewing classes and kamps.

Rossanna

Having over 30 years of experience in the fashion industry, Rossanna is well versed in garment construction. She teaches adults and kids' classes throughout the year and the ever popular kids' summer sewing camps.

Current Classes

Heather teaches ribbon and thread embroidery, bead work and soap/lotion/scrub making.

Heather

Part of Piecemakers Construction Company team, Heather devotes her handwork time to ribbon and thread embroidery, bead work and soap/lotion/scrub making. She teaches these arts and grass roots skills to adults and children.

Current Classes

Mary Shey - ribbon embroidery artist and teacher from Acton, MA

Mary Shey

Mary Shey’s needlework life began when she was four, and has been a lifelong love affair. Hailing from Acton, Massachusetts, she teaches the techniques and beauty of ribbon embroidery to all levels in Greater Boston, San Francisco and Southern California.

Current Classes

Di is part of Piecemakers' production department that works on custom quilt orders, and original handcrafted items for sale at the store, including our yummy apple pies.

Di

Di is part of Piecemakers' production department that works on custom quilt orders, and original handcrafted items for sale at the store, including our yummy apple pies. She teaches embroidery, quilting and apple pie baking.

Current Classes

Larene Smith specializes in simplifying quilting techniques, and excels in designing quilts, wallhangings, table runners, totes and more.

Larene Smith

Larene has been teaching at Piecemakers since 2009. She specializes in simplifying quilting techniques, and excels in designing quilts, wallhangings, table runners, totes and more.

Current Classes

Di Venter

Di Venter has an extensive background in teaching various sewing and art techniques in different parts of the world from South Africa to Berlin, United Kingdom and Tanzania. Di’s passion is designing and teaching a wide selection of bookbinding techniques.

Current Classes

Barbara Willis teaches whimsical dolls.

Barbara Willis

For over thirty years, Barbara has been designing, teaching and delighting her students with whimsical one-of-a-kind dolls. We always look forward to her original designs, and her newest creations are admired by both dollmakers and non-dollmakers alike!

Current Classes

Piecemakers beginning sewing teacher Alma Wilson

Alma Wilson

Since Alma came to Piecemakers eight years ago, she has felt so welcome. Alma assists Rossanna in teaching children’s sewing classes, and is now teaching her own class! Specializing in working with beginners, her goal is to make everyone feel comfortable and confident using their sewing machine.

Current Classes

LeeAnna Yater teaches Shibori fiber art classes.

LeeAnna Yater

LeeAnna has enjoyed teaching the Shibori fiber arts classes at Piecemakers since 2018. She also creates and teaches other fine crafts to include handmade paper, alternative book arts, weaving, printmaking and ceramics to name a few.

Watch for future classes!