Quilt Maker, Rifles and Stone Carver

Maura Grace Ambrose, Quilt maker (website)

Folk Fibers, Bastrop, TX

Austin, Texas-based quilt maker, Maura Grace Ambrose studied Textile Design and Fiber Arts at Savannah College of Art & Design. In her quilt work, she uses natural dyes on her favorite 100% natural fabrics, which she patchworks with other vintage and modern fabrics to create her heirloom-quality, hand-stitched quilts and pillows. Her goal is to share the craft and folklore that prevails around natural dyes and quilting.

Bobby Denton, Rifle maker (website)

Morganton, NC

Gunsmith Bobby Denton has been studying and stocking flintlock sporting arms since 1975. A master carver for 25 years in the furniture industry designing in the Baroque and Rococo style, Denton uses those skills to puts his intricate and delicate mark on every rifle he builds in his North Carolina shop. He uses only the highest-quality component parts, and the finest-figured hard marble he can get, and works with clients to create not only a stunning, customized long rifle, but also a work of art.

Walter Arnold, Stone Carver (website)

Elgin, IL

Classically trained in Italy, acclaimed artist and stone sculptor, Walter S. Arnold creates a full range of stone sculpture and marble carvings, and is committed to preserving the traditional techniques of marble carving, one of the highest art forms. After his apprenticeship with master stone carvers in Italy, Arnold spent five years working on the Washington National Cathedral in D.C., before establishing his studio in Chicago in 1985.

He is fluent in styles ranging from Classical and Renaissance to Gothic, Baroque and Arts & Crafts, and is best known for gargoyles, but also creates unique fireplaces, fountains, architectural carvings and sculpture for private residences, institutions and commercial buildings throughout the United States and Canada. He works with only the highest-quality natural materials, never composites or synthetics.

Arnold still has ties to Italy, as he maintains a studio there, as well.