Meet Our Teachers!

 

Julie Davidson loves using a spindle for its portability and novelty. Her idea of a perfect morning is to take the goats and sheep for a leisurely walk in the meadow and to spindle without interruptions. This interest in spindles has led to a collection of tips and techniques to share.

Kathy Diviely lives in Berne, Indiana with her husband, two sons and a daughter. She is a registered nurse and works at present in Surgery. Kathy has been sewing most of her life. She has been a member of the Swiss Stitches Quilt Guild, The Indiana State Guild and the Creative Stitches Guild of Decatur. Kathy prides herself in embellishments, raggy shaggy, jacket making and purse making among other things. Kathy has the talent of teaching and is very easy to learn from. 
 
Kelly Dossett learned to spin 15 years ago and enjoys spinning, felting, lock hooking and knitting, has taught classes for felting and lock hooking for four years. She works full time as a nurse and enjoy fiber arts for pleasure and relaxation, She's married and has 11 grandchildren. She lives in town and buys fiber from friends or at fiber shows. She has enjoyed learning from wonderful teachers and enjoy, in-turn passing on the information to others.

 

Kim Flueckiger Quilting has been a part of her life since 1997 when a friend of hers took her to a class her mother was teaching.  This was the beginning of her quilting adventure. Over the past years, she has enjoyed learning different techniques and sharing many experiences with her quilting friends. She enjoys quilting in many different sizes from beds to table runners to candle mats and displaying them throughout her home. She lives in rural Huntington Indiana with her husband, 2 dogs and 2 cats.
 
Deb Gerber has been making baskets for 14 years and has been teaching for over 10 years. Deb also learned to cane this year and attends special events & festivals with her baskets. She works full time as a CAN at Swiss Village and attends seminars to keep up on the latest trends in basket making. She lives in Berne with her husband, three children and as a family hobby they deliver the local Berne paper. 
 
Kenya Habegger has been a fiber artist for 15 years and a designer for 5 years. She has been teaching for 5 years. She enjoys working with all different types of medium but enjoys items from nature the best. She loves riding horses in her spare time and being with her family. She truly believes in the saying “live, laugh, love" it does great things for the soul.

 
Karen Hainlen has been spinning for about 20 years and has been teaching over 15 years. She enjoys living history re-enactments where she sells her hand spun, hand knit and hand woven garments for time period articles. She has one granddaughter who also enjoys the re-enactments with grandma. Karen is proficient at the Walking Wheel as well as Treadle Wheel and drop spindle. Karen lives on a farm with her husband and loves her new baby Bichon Srise dog. 
 
Carol Haughton has been raising Alpaca’s for 10 years and working with their soft warm fiber, spinning, felting and making hats. She now teaches how to make a soft felted hat with a felting needle and a form, that you can wear home after 3 hours. We use all natural colors of their fiber, and you pick the style that’s just right for you. 
 
Kat Koeller is a multi-disciplined artist with experience in dyeing, spinning, knitting, crochet, face painting and paper crafts. Always a crafter, she began her professional art career as a graphic designer in 2001. Since 2007 her focus has moved to the fiber arts and creating useful things from recycled and vintage items. Kat’s handiwork can be seen at local farmers markets, charity auctions and kid’s events throughout the year. 
 
Penny Phares is a kindergartner teacher and lives on a farm in Northern Indiana. She has enjoyed spinning, weaving and raising sheep for 30 years. She has wool crosses along with 5 Alpaca, 2 Lamas and Angora Bunnies. She enjoys teaching spinning and fiber blending as well as representing Swift at several fiber festivals in Indiana.

 
Jan Ryan has been rug hooking for 15 years and teaching for seven. Designing homespun yarns and then dyeing them came out of a wish to find a color and wool yardage that was just what she wanted and affordable for her. The journey towards that end let her to some wonderful technical people who were very generous with their time. She learned to spin wool on her spinning wheels. Dye classes enabled her to produce the custom colors that she really wanted. Hunting for wool and over dyeing her treasures enabled her to find affordable wool yardage in a country that no longer has any woolen mills. Drawing and designing the kits came naturally with her art background. Now she feel the need to share and give back to others. Note: Jan Ryan is an Ohio Artist and award winning rug hooker.

 
Helen Rouch has been Knitting and Crocheting for over 25 + years. She has been teaching seniors to knit and crochet at the local community center. Helen likes to learn new crafts to keep up with new technique Her husband has been involved with tractor & engine show over 30 years and both like to give back to the community. She lives in Portland and has 6 grandchildren who keep her busy. 
 
Jamie Stark is co-owner with Matt Mabis of the Wooly Knob Fiber Mill in LaOtto, Indiana. He has been processing all different kinds of fiber for 7+ years now. He enjoys spinning and knitting and raising sheep and goats.
 
Deb Tumbleson lives in the Berne area. She has opened the Engine House Quilt Shop in July of 2006 on Main Street in Berne. Deb has been active in the making of all types and varieties of quilts. Flannel is a large part of the shop along with Minkee and fleece. Last August she formed a club for pieced Appliqué which is taught every second Saturday at the shop along with a beginning quilting class in the afternoon. 
 
Emily Tumbleson lives in the Ossian area. She has started a Purse of the Month club at the Engine House Quilt Shop. She is a Sports Trainer for Sports ONE professionally. Emily has ten years of sewing in 4-H under her belt and she loves jackets and purses.