Irena Bluhm was born and raised in Poland. She moved to Germany in 1981 and then to the United States, California in 1991. After her husband retired in 2001, they purchased a 71 acre property in rural Antlers, Oklahoma where her large studio is located.
Irena’s extensive experience includes 18 years of garment making and design; and another 12 years of creating art, using various mediums. When she discovered the wonderful world of quilting and purchased her own Gammill Optimum Plus along with Gammill® Design Center in November 2004, she became fascinated by the new possibilities it presented. She was brimming with ideas for quilt designs to be used on quilts created for competitions and exhibits nationwide.
Her enthusiasm is very contagious as she loves to share, encourage and inspire other quilters to try something new that they never thought they would be able to do. Her passion for making quilts shows with her all original design work having won multiple awards throughout the United States in national and international quilt contests. She became a long arm quilter in November 2004.
Since she purchased her quilting machine, she has participated in numerous national and international quilt contests and exhibits. Her quilts have won multiple awards and her work has been published in numerous quilting magazines.
Juust a little over 1 year into long arm quilting, Irena started teaching long arm quilting nationwide in March 2006 at MQX 2006, 2007, 2009, HMQS 2007, MQS 2007, 2008,2009, AQS 2007 in Paducah, Innovations 2006 and 2007, 2009, AQS Quilt Expo 2008, IQF 2009 in Houston. In Fall 2008 she enjoyed her international teaching debut in Germany. She is planning on a busier teaching schedule for 2010. Irena is hoping that her encouraging nature, very contagious enthusiasm for what she loves to do is going to inspire many others to try, use and teach her techniques.
Irena loves to inspire and share her knowledge with others. She has plenty in store to share. Since she joined the quilting world almost 5 years ago and using quilting as an art form ever since; she produced multiple show quilts which won her 60 awards in national and international quilt contests, including the most prestigious international shows. Irena has also created hundreds of quilting patterns. Only a very small portion of her quilting patterns is available on the market. She also has authored eight books so far and more books are in progress.
She will continue working on developing new techniques in quilt design and execution, creating more show quilts, teaching, creating more books, CD's and DVD's.
Irena Bluhm’s list of awards since May 2005 to present
2005
1. 2nd Place in Category – Experiment in Color at MQS 2005
2. 2nd Place in Category – Hummingbird at NQA 2005
3. Best in Long/Mid Arm Machine Quilting – Hummingbird at NQA 2005
4. 1st Place in Category – Experiment in Color at Quilt Expo, Sewing with Nancy 2005
5. 2nd Place in Category – Hummingbird at PIQF 2005
6. Best Innovative Design – Hummingbird at Road to California 2006
2006
7. Best Machine Workmanship – Morning Glory at MAQF 2006
8. 1st Place in Category – The Birds and The Bees at Arizona Quilters Guild 2006
9. Best of Show – Hummingbird at Dallas Quilt Celebration 2006
10. Teacher’s Award – Experiment in Color at HMQS 2006
11. Teacher’s Award – Hummingbird at MQX 2006
12. 2nd Place in Category – Butterfly Parade at MQX 2006
13. Honorable Mention – Sunflower Parade at DNQF 2006
14. 1st Place – Hummingbird at MQS 2006
15. 3rd Place – Morning Glory at MQS 2006
16. 1st Place in Category – Full Bloom Extravaganza at NQA 2006
17. Best in Mid/Longarm Machine Quilting – Full Bloom Extravaganza at NQA 2006
18. 1st Place in Category – Experiment in Color at Three Rivers Quilt Festival 2006
19. 3rd Place in Category – Butterfly Parade at Three Rivers Quilt Festival 2006
20. Honorable Mention – The Birds and the Bees at Quilt Odyssey 2006
21. 2nd Place – Full Bloom Extravaganza at QTW 2006
22. 3rd Place – Sunflower Parade at QTW 2006
23. 3rd Place – Experiment in Color at Quilter’s Round Up FQM 2006
24. Best in Long Arm Workmanship – Hummingbird at AQS Nashville 2006
25. 3rd Place – Experiment In Color at Innovations 2006
26. 3rd Place at Quilt Expo – Full Bloom Extravaganza at Sewing with Nancy 2006
27. 2nd place-Tanya’s Bluhms at Red River Quilters 2006-Tanya Tingle/ Irena Bluhm
28. 2nd Place – Hummingbird at IQA Houston 2006
2007
29. 1st Place-Hummingbird at Oklahoma City Winter Show 2007
30. Excellence in Long Arm Quilting-Full Bloom Extravaganza-Road2Ca 2007
31. 1st Place-Full Bloom Extravaganza at Gulf Coast Quilt Expo 2007
32. Second Best Overall-Full Bloom Extravaganza at Gulf Coast Quilt Expo 2007
33. 1st place-Hummingbird at Indiana Heritage Quilt Show 2007
34. Honorable Mention-Full Bloom Extravaganza-Dallas Quilt Celebration 2007
35. Teacher’s Award-Lime Green Snowflakes-MQX 2007
36. Honorable Mention-The Birds and the Bees-A Mountain Quiltfest 2007
37. 1st place-Hummingbird-HMQS 2007
38. Honorable Mention-Full Bloom Extravaganza-DNQF 2007
39. 2nd place-Starburst-MQS 2007
40. 3rd place-Morning Glory-NQA 2007
41. Honorable Mention-Hawaiian Punch-MQS 2007
42. 1st place-Hummingbird-Minnesota Quilters 2007
43. Best Artistry-Hummingbird-Quilt Odyssey 2007
44. Honorable Mention-Hummingbird-Quilt Expo 2007
45. 2nd in Machine Quilting Excellence-Hawaiian Punch-Quilter’s Gathering 2007
46. 2nd place-Morning Glory-Innovations 2007
2008
47. 2nd place-Hawaiian Punch-Road 2 California 2008
48. Honorable Mention-Hawaiian Punch-Dallas Quilt Celebration 2008
49. Honorable Mention-Serenity-Indiana Heritage Quilt show 2008
50. 3rd place – Starburst- AQS in Paducah 2008
51. 2nd place - Serenity-MQS 2008
52. Honorable Mention-Serenity-NQA 2008
53. 1st place-Hummingbird-Appleseed Quilt Guild Show 2008
54. Honorable Mention-Hawaiian Punch-Quilt Expo 2008
2009
55. 1st place in category-Majestic Bugs-Indiana Heritage Quilt Show 2009
56. Teachers award-Majestic Bugs-MQS 2009
57. Best of Show award-Majestic Bugs-Minnesota Quilters Guild show 2009
58. 3rd place-Majestic Bugs-Quilt Odyssey 2009
59. 2nd place-Viewers Choice-Hummingbird-RMQF 2010
60. 2nd place-Majestic Bugs-Innovations 2010
Artist's Resume
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