Meet the Instructors
We are proud to offer weekend workshops from a diverse lineup of fiber educators, teaching on a wide range of fiber art topics.
Read a little more about our teachers below.
Anna Anderson, from Superior Montana, is the owner of Calico Farm Fiber Art and the Wooly Rescue. She enjoys sharing fiber art tips, techniques and inspiring creativity in the classes she loves to teach.
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Belinda Mordhorst, Belinda began learning hand stitching, embroidery, quilting, and cross stitch at a young age, guided by her mother, an expert quilter. She discovered wool applique while operating a gift shop in a historic woolen mill, which led her to transition the business into a hand-stitching shop with a focus on wool applique. She has taught classes to students of all ages, from children as young as 10 to adults. Stitching is an integral part of her daily life and a source of both creativity and relaxation.
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Casey Newman is a naturalist and a botanical print and natural dye artist who incorporates nature into her work in a variety of ways. With a masters degree in ecology and an interest in fiber arts that began in childhood, she loves that natural dyeing blends both science and art. She is known for explaining the “why” of natural dyeing in clear, easy-to-understand ways, while embracing the unexpected - the magic, if you will - that occurs when co-creating with nature. Casey’s botanical printing work is centered around northwest native plants and she is inspired by living and working at Cedar Dell Forest Farm on the outskirts of Gresham, OR. There she raises a small flock of Shetland sheep, grows a variety of dye plants, wanders the woods in search of treasures, and teaches classes for curious and creative people of all ages.
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Diane McKinnon has been an avid hand weaver for longer than she cares to admit. As a happy accident of the punch card based enrollment process, she studied weaving during college. McKinnon did additional textile, color, and weaving studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Attending fiber conference classes, working for two years in a weaving shop, doing production weaving, and teaching have increased her skills and knowledge over the years. She teaches regularly at regional fiber events such as The Black Sheep Gathering and the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival. She also holds regular fiber classes in the Thistle Patch Fiber Studio at her home just outside of Forest Grove, Oregon. McKinnon specializes in color and texture in her weaving. She often mixes many types of yarns and multiple colors, making each item unique. As the ‘keeper’ of over 50 looms, she is able to keep many different projects such as rag rugs, shawls, scarves, placemats, and dish towels, to name a few, going at once. Boredom is never a possibility. She loves the rhythm and structure that loom weaving offers. Within those seemingly restrictive confines, the endless possibilities of creating art seem to grow for her. McKinnon is also an accomplished hand spinner and she often uses her handspun yarns in her woven wearable creations.​
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Heidi Leugers, has over twenty five years of working with wool in nearly all forms and fifteen years teaching needle felting, dyeing and wet felting. She has made over 500K items by hand through her zero-waste business, Reclaimed Wool selling her work to specialty retailers and fine craft galleries across the USA. Her creative practice was featured in the first academic teaching text ever published on art and ecology here. Her designs have been carried at The American Folk Art Museum in New York, Timberline Lodge, The Milwaukie Art Museum, New Seasons Market, and Chihuly Garden & Glass. She can also be found at select events in the Pacific Northwest, on her YouTube Channel, on Instagram, and her Website.
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Janet Heppler has been a fiber artist for over 45 years. She is a weaver, spinner and dyer. Her business Nebo-Rock Textiles included her ranch where she raised award winning natural colored Merino sheep and Angora goats. She sold wool products and dyed her own yarn with both commercial acid dyes and natural plant and mushroom dyes. Down sizing, selling the ranch and eventually moving from Mendocino Co. CA to Woodland , WA 8 years ago, Janet became very interested in using and collecting mushrooms for dyeing yarn. Joining SW Mycological society, Oregon Mycological Society and NAMA furthered her knowledge of Mushroom ID. She has taught dye classes for the OMS, SOMA camp and various fiber groups in the Portland area. Being out in the woods collecting dye mushrooms and learning more about Fungi and sharing that knowledge is her big passion.
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Jayme Rabenberg, Jayme is a multi-disciplinary artist and bench trained floral designer. She has been working with fiber for over 20 years first as a knitter, and more recently as a handspinner and weaver and dyer. But her first introduction to textile crafts came at age 4, when her grandmother gave her a dish towel and taught her how to do free hand embroidery.
Jayme owns Bloommonger, a floral design and creative studio in Portland, Oregon. She also serves on the board of the Pacific Northwest Fiber Connect and Aurora Colony Handspinners Guild.
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Jennie Sanders, Jennie has been sharing her love of fiber arts for over 15 years through demonstrations, workshops, and one on one instruction. With formal training in adult learning, Jennie is skilled at adapting her teaching style to the unique needs of her students. With a passion for fibers arts, Jennie is excited to bring a unique perspective that will inspire creativity and spark joy amongst new and skilled artists alike.
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Jennifer Kaylor, Jennifer Kaylor is a fiber artist local to Snohomish, Washington. She is the owner/operator of Jenny Lynn Wool Creations. Her business was born from her traditional rug hooking hobby, which she was introduced to by a demonstrator at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, Washington. A few years later, she began making wool flowers for applique in her rug projects, and one thing led to another. Now, she is living a dream, making gorgeous wool flowers and sharing that gift with others.
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Karen Chastain, Karen, a retired transportation planning consultant and serial entrepreneur, has been involved with sewing, knitting and other fiber related crafts since childhood. Through Chrysalis, her custom sewing business, Karen has completed a wide variety of projects for clients ranging from designer wedding dresses to exhibition tents, furniture and vehicle upholstery, leather riding chaps, and custom clothing. Since retirement in 2017, Karen has expanded her sewing business to include handmade Christmas ornaments, stockings, animals, tote bags and decorator pillows for sale at OFFF and other venues (Whee Woolies). These items, made from a variety of natural fibers, utilize hand and machine sewing, knitting, applique, and embroidery techniques to produce unique family heirlooms.
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Kay Fleskes, Kay Fleskes is the president of the Northwest Rug Hookers chapter of the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists. Their goal is to share and promote the craft of traditional rug hooking. She has been hooking for over 12 years, and is currently pursuing her McGown accreditation.
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​Kenneth Gossards, Kenneth have been involved in the fiber arts world for most of his life, as well as raising sheep. The real start was when he had his first black lamb born. At the time, the price for colored wool was nothing - literally he would have to pay them to take it. Instead, he decided to make use of the fiber. Being raised in a family that were makers, it was not that hard to come up with ideas on how to use the wool. But, he was faced with the fact, the way he was being taught was not what was written in books. With that knowledge, he decided to follow the old ways and refined the craft by doing and using his products. Now, it's nothing out of the ordinary for him to be dressed in wool clothing while feeding the sheep that provided the fiber in the first place. He enjoys passing on the way of the generations past, as they have passed on to him. He likes showing people that there is more than one way to do a certain thing, and to stretch the boundaries of what they are capable of doing.
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Kristin Bartell, Kristin have been stitching since she was a child. She now has her own business with self-designed hand-embroidery patterns, hand-dyed floss and more. She has vended at OFFF and is excited to venture out into classes. She has done several classes in other fiber arts (English Paper Piecing, Hairpin Lace, Embroidery), genealogy and public speaking. She loves to share this art form.
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Lynne Powell & Barb Powell,
Lynne Powell discovered traditional rug hooking in 1993 and has been an avid practitioner ever since. A member of ATHA, the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists and a McGown Certified teacher, she has been teaching rug hooking intermittently for over 25 years. She particularly enjoys teaching beginners for the joy they may find in this art and craft. Lynne lives in Portland Oregon with her husband, David, and dog, Maddy.
Barb Powell (no relation to Lynne!) was certified as a McGown teacher in 2016. She has been a finalist in the magazine “Celebration of Hand Hooked Rugs” 8 times and was inducted into the Celebration Hall of Fame in 2023. Her rug “Stairway to Heaven” was chosen to be on the cover in 2021. She hooks subjects that make her smile so rug hooking is FUN.
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Molly Golter, Molly started her fiber arts journey in 2002. As she was cutting her teeth on knitting it was apparent that making her own yarn was the best way to knit with the real thing. She grew up on 163 acre farm and raising the animals was hardwired in since before she can remember. Then, living in town, meant her farm needed to be able to fit her back yard. After as much research as she could, she was drawn to angora bunnies, and they have propelled this wild and wooly fiber art into a true study on quality, character, and pursuing many masterful pieces of functional wearable art. Many techniques she has learned pre-internet and in many ways, is thankful for having to discover for herself. On the other hand, there are some guiding principles that would have made her more proficient much sooner. As an artist and animal lover, she is passionate about sharing those guiding principles that will help you take your garment from grass to gorgeous from any phase in the process you choose.
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Rio Wrenn is an environmental artist that has been working with the earth to garner colors and pigments as well as found objects to create abstract works in sculpture and textiles. For over 20 years she has created, exhibited, and performed locally and nationally. By 2013 she began teaching her processes and techniques to adults and children across the nation. In 2023, she published an inspirational memoir, 'Spirituality of Rust - A Sacred Language of Iron Though Art'. Always learning and exploring new ways to manifest with this earth is her passion. Connecting with community and sharing is her mission.
Rose Covert uses natural materials to weave sculptural forms. Using reimagined basketry techniques, Rose creates woven landscapes that twist and travel around themselves. Her work is evocative of the natural world they are created from. They hold an element of dance and movement in their shapes and pull the viewer in with their dynamic tensions. Rose grew up in Colorado but has been living in the Pacific Northwest for most of her adult life. She is a longtime Portland resident who has fallen in love with the rich plant life that grows here. Rose works entirely with plants that grow within a 60 mile radius of Portland, some of her work is comprised of plants she grows herself and the rest are from plants she either tends or harvests from on a regular basis. She finds inspiration in the natural world, the exquisiteness of elemental forms and landscapes, as well as the habitats the plants grow in. Her work is a continuation of the beauty of the natural world; her work allows us to bring the allure of nature into our homes. Rose’s process begins with planting or harvesting the plants her sculptures are made from and ends in exploration and design as she weaves the forms. Rose has been a member and board member of the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild since 2014. She has learned and continues to learn a wide range of weaving techniques and practices through her participation with the Guild. She is also a weaving instructor and teaches youth and adults through her involvement with a variety of organizations. Rose has been an attending artist at Frogwood, an artist collaborative event, located in Oregon and has been on the board of Frogwood since 2020. She recently was awarded a RACC Arts3C grant for her large scale woven den which was part of Terra Incognita, a land based art event. This has propelled Rose into the realm of large scale, experiential woven forms and public art.
Tammy Jordan is a fourth-generation fiber artist who enjoys sharing her passion with everyone she meets. She has a fiber-arts business, Goldieknots Montana, specializing in Montana-grown wool, yarn, spinning fiber, and Made in Montana gift items. Prior to moving to Montana, she lived in Southern California and the Pocono Mountains where she was a former Humane Education specialist for the SPCA. Her teaching style is fun, creative, and interactive. When she’s not on the road teaching or in her studio creating, spinning, knitting, or felting, you can find her spending time with her dogs, sheep, horse, and other barnyard critters.
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Tammy Vaughn is a national leader in all things Giant Angora, passionately dedicated to these magnificent rabbits and their extraordinary fiber, as breeder, fiber artist, and lifelong apprentice to the craft of spinning their luxurious wool. Tammy’s expertise spans the entire journey—from breeding and grooming to harvesting, spinning, and creating wearable works of art. Her dedication has not only elevated the quality of Giant Angoras but also expanded their visibility within the rabbit and fiber communities. One of Tammy’s proudest accomplishments is developing the Chestnut Giant Angora, now an officially recognized color by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA). Historically, Giant Angoras were only showable in white, limiting their appeal to breeders and fiber artists seeking natural color variety. Tammy’s groundbreaking efforts have opened the door to a spectrum of vibrant new colors, making Giant Angoras more accessible and exciting for enthusiasts around the world. This ripple effect has inspired a growing community of breeders and artists committed to raising and showcasing them. Tammy’s passion for education and mentorship shines through her work. She loves sharing her extensive knowledge about raising, showing, and utilizing Giant Angora wool. Her journey—from feeling overwhelmed at her first shows to becoming a confident, award-winning breeder and fiber artist—fuels her desire to inspire others. Whether spinning yarn, designing fiber art, or helping new breeders navigate the world of rabbits, Tammy brings her contagious enthusiasm and wealth of experience to every interaction. Join her in discovering the beauty and versatility of Giant Angora wool—one spin of the wheel at a time!
Teresa Waldo combines her passion for teaching with her passion for crafting. She has taught elementary and special education for 30+ years and adult crafting classes for 15+ years. Teresa has been knitting for 50 years, spinning for 20 years, weaving for 5 years, and crocheting for 5 years. Teresa loves sharing her excitement for anything fiber related with others and has a keen ability to break a skill down into manageable steps. She makes sure all her students are successful and that they leave with a new skill. Teresa has taught knitting, crocheting, weaving, and spinning classes in shops around the Pacific Northwest and at regional conferences and festivals in Oregon and Washington. She also writes and publishes patterns. She resides in Auburn WA, but can most likely be found teaching at A Little Knitty in Milton, WA.
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