Fyresdal: A Quilt Inspired by Historic Textiles with Mike Ellingsen (In-Person)

Instructor Mike Ellingsen has set a personal goal to design a quilt each year based on an item from the Vesterheim collection. Fyresdal is his choice for 2026, inspired by one of the coverlets in Vesterheim’s collection. There is a lot of cutting! A cutting list will be sent out before class so students can arrive and start sewing right away. If you wish, you may change the color palette to customize your quilt.  Vesterheim offers a 60% discount for in-person class tuition on a space-available standby basis to any resident living within 50 miles of Vesterheim. Students will be notified about the availability of an opening in the class 21 days before the starting date of the class period. Discounts do not include materials fees. If local area residents want a guaranteed place in a class, they must pay regular class tuition.Mike is a retired music and drama teacher who has been quilting since the late 1980s. He has taught and lectured for guilds in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, as well as presentations at the State Show of the Minnesota Quilters. Mike was a founder of the Blue Earth Valley Quilters, served as manager of the Blue Earth Quilt EXPO held in Blue Earth each August, and was a Textile Superintendent for the Faribault County Fair. He is one of the chairs of Airing Out the Quilts – an outdoor quilt show in Decorah held the Thursday after Independence Day each year.Mike has his own series of published quilt patterns which are sold via his Etsy shop, and was selected as Minnesota Quilter of the Year for both 2020 and 2021 – the first male to hold that distinction.After 45 years of living in Blue Earth, Minnesota, Mike and his wife, Sue, moved to Decorah, Iowa, several years ago, where he is a member of both the North East Iowa Quilters’ Guild and the Iowa Quilters Guild.