- Summer 2025 -
Teacher Spotlight
LAURA HEINE
By Bob Ruggiero
Hailing from the state of Montana, Laura Heine has carved a unique place in the quilt world via her teaching, writing, designing, and as owner of her own quilt store, Fiberworks.
Heine teaches a student in her Fiberworks store.
Quilting came into her life more than 30 years ago when, while pregnant with her first child, she decided to take a class so she could at least say she made “one quilt in her lifetime.” Instead, she found a lifetime with quilts.
Friends@Festival spoke with her via Zoom about her quilting journey, artistic passions, and business model.
Friends@Festival: We’ve actually heard something similar to your story many times over the years. How what started off as mild interest or a one-off in quilting led to something more. At what point did you realize that making just one quilt wasn’t going to do it for you?
Heine: When I was taking the class. Then I thought I’d take one more and make one more quilt. And I couldn’t quit! I was a registered nurse at the time, and my friends talked me into opening a quilt store.
Friends@Festival: They talked you into it?
Heine: Nobody thought it was a good idea, except for them! I was married at the time, and my husband said how I was going to compete against JoAnn’s and Hancock and House of Fabrics. I guess I kind of showed them all!
Friends@Festival: A lot of your background has been in machine quilting. Other than speed, what is the benefit for your work about machine vs. hand quilting?
Heine: Actually, that used to be what I was very much known for. Now, it’s collage. But yes, I introduced myself to some of the thread companies and used non-traditional threads, like jean-stitch. With that heavy thread it gave my quilts a whole different look.
Work by Laura Heine
Friends@Festival: And your move to collage? I know all three of your classes at Festival this year are collage related.
Heine: It was a process. While I was doing machine quilting, I was doing a lot of fused appliquè and machine embroidery. And then all kinds of decorative stitching. I was also designing threads. The fused appliquè was always there for me, but it wasn’t until many years later in 2001 when I had just built the building that Fiberworks is in now. I moved in Sept. 1, 2001. Then 9/11 happened and nobody came.
I sat there in a 6,100-sq. foot building wondering how I was going to sell all this fabric. So, I pulled bolts off my shelves, fused them to Steam-a-Seam, cut out motifs, and made a patchwork pony out of a horse pattern I had. I turned it into a quilt and hung it up, and everyone who came in wanted a kit! I made three and sold them. Then three and sold more. Then ten and sold those! So that’s how the collage started. Everybody loved it, and that’s what I do today.
Laura Heine with Piglet
Piglet in fabric
Friends@Festival: It’s one thing to be a quilter and another to be a business owner. Sometimes, they don’t always go together successfully. How did you meet that challenge switching hats?
Heine: I’m lucky that I did so well during the first six or seven years I came out with collage I could basically retire. But my employees want to keep working and I love them, and they’ve been with me since the beginning. I can get to do the quilts that I always wanted to do. I had no background in marketing or business-so I learned it all as a went along. And I saved like a church mouse for years! I have a studio in Red Lodge, Montana and I can also go up there. And now, I’m incorporating Inktense paints in my collage. But I still love my shop!
Friends@Festival: I know you host retreats as well and they are usually several days. What does that give you and your students that, say, a one-day class can’t?
Heine: Well, I used to teach all over the world. Now, I have more than 200 teachers who are certified in my technique to go out there. I’m pushing to them. And then I can do 3-4 day retreats here in Montana myself. And they can be out there. Plus, a lot of the things I do take more than one day to get a feel out of it. Most of my quilts need that three days to really get into it.
Friends@Festival: Finally, what do you look forward to most at Quilt Festival in Houston?
Heine: This is the first year that I won’t have a booth at Market and Festival, and I’m kind of looking forward to that. I’m looking forward to my students, some who come back year after year. Houston is just a fun place to go. It would be weird if I didn’t go!
For more on Laura Heine and Fiberworks, visit www.fiberworks-heine.com
Heine’s classes at Quilt Festival 2025:
