Do you ever have the experience of having someone who comes into your life but it feels like they have been in it forever in the very best way? That is how I feel about this week’s BAQS Cover Quilter. While I have only known her for a bit over a year it is also hard to think of a time when her creative energy and presence has not been part of my life.
Nichole Rivera is no newcomer to the quilt scene, her work and teaching has laid the foundation for many of today’s top quilters.
Her quilting story started back in 1999 when she took up quilting after the birth of her third child. For her like many it was love at first stitch. So much so that she wore out her first machine in no time and was soon introduced to the idea of longarm quilting by her sewing machine dealer and as they say the rest is history!
Nichole’s first book Garden Branching took on the topic of continuous line quilting that she mastered while quilting for others but soon her focus switched from quilting to teaching and that is when her passion and her art found their place of dynamic interchange.
Currently Nichole’s work concentrates on helping machine quilters excel in Free-Motion On The Fly techniques, enabling them to create beautiful and unique machine quilted designs that truly express their inner fiber artist.
Nichole’s teaching comes from a different place than many and it makes her unique in a teaching field that has much to offer. She truly believes that the creator inside of you is brilliant. And you just need to train your body and hone its skills to enable you to let that inner-creator of yours to stitch out your visions onto cloth.
I have determined that Nichole’s real strength is empowering YOU on your creative journey and I just adore seeing the progress people make when they spend time with her.
While she once again is blessed with a home full of little people that has not stopped her from drawing on her six amazing years traveling heavily teaching across the United States and Canada in both national shows and private workshops. In fact in 2007 she was deeply honored to have gained a nomination by the Professional Quilter Magazine as a Teacher of The Year.
Her time teaching has resulted in her being an award winning quilter and also an award winning mixed-media artist who approaches things from a very holistic view point that resonates with myself and many who spend time with her.
Her philosophy is simple- To quote Nichole –
“You learn best what you share with others and I am indebted to every single student I have had for the knowledge and friendship that they have shared with me. I’ve grown as a person and an artist thanks to all of you! I adore working with you now, and look forward to our future!”
Get to know Nichole even better – pop over to her site or visit with her on Facebook.
http://www.enlightenedstitches.com/ask-nik.html
https://www.facebook.com/CoutureQuilter
