CQA / ACC's Teacher of the Year - 2005 Introducing Kathy Tidswell, Teacher of the Year 2005 On May 25, 2005 Kathy Tidswell, of Burtt’s Corner, NB was awarded CQA/ACC’s 2005 Teacher of the Year at the Annual General Meeting, in Waterloo, ON. Marg Wood, who represented the nominating committee from the Fredericton Quilters’ Guild, introduced Kathy to the audience. Carole McCarville, CQA/ACC Vice President and Chair of the Teacher of the Year Committee, presented Kathy with the silver plated engraved seam ripper. Kathy was overwhelmed with the honour and shared her excitement with the audience during her acceptance speech. Friends and family had a big surprise for Kathy, when her husband attended the ceremony (unknown to Kathy) and presented her with a bouquet of flowers after the presentation of the award and her acceptance speech. Kathy has been quilting for over twenty years and has developed her own techniques for painting on fabric and using free motion machine embroidery to produce thread painted works of art, as well as, quilted wall hangings and wearable art. She began sharing her knowledge through teaching techniques courses for guilds, needlework festivals, fabric shops and sewing machine shops. Kathy summed it up when she said, “I love teaching the best.” Congratulations Kathy! A complete introduction to Kathy and her acceptance speech can be seen in the Autumn issue of “The Canadian Quilter.”