Seasew

I agree with some others here that Laura Wasilowski was great and also very entertaining. My favorite is Jennie Rayment. She is British, very entertaining and a just a tad bit risqué. I found her to be very informative and delightful.

Peckish

This could get complicated. What sort of personality does your guild have, how large is it, and what's your budget?

For example, if it's a smaller guild that's mostly into applique, they probably wouldn't be interested in someone like Sally Collins and "Mastering Precision Piecing". (I have no idea if Sally does workshops, I just used her as an example.) On the other hand, they may be very interested in learning something new, such as precision piecing.

My dream wish-list of presenters include Yoko Saito, Cynthia England, Jamie Wallen, Margaret Solomon Gunn, Ricky Tims, Edyta Sitar, Bethanne Nemesh, Cathy Wiggins, Janet Fogg, Gena Perkes, Mark Lipinski (he's a hoot!).

There are several excellent suggestions upthread. May I suggest you look up the names, check pricing and availability, and put together a list of 5 possible speakers, then put that list to the guild for a vote? You could have them number the presenters in order of preference, the presenter with the most number 1 votes is the one you book. This may also give you presenters for the next 2-3 years.

Batik 54

Susan Cleveland is so engertic and gives a great program and has some great workshops. Her mother leaves near us so we have been able to have her several times and she was more popular than Laura Wasilowski, who was fantastic.

BonnieJP

The website is psqg.org

It is the Prairie Star Guild based on St. Charles, IL. The guild has something like 300+ members.

Quilt30

What is the range of fees being charged by teachers. I agree about costs of classes especially at the big shows. Some are $100 or more per day class.

quiltingshorttimer

living in the KC area, where many national known quilters are located within about an hour drive at most, the presentations for a day & evening presentations run about $500-700, plus travel expenses. Workshops tend to run about the same for a class of 25+/-.
my guild has looked into bringing in some nationally known quilters from outside our area that would require airfare, extra baggage (those quilts weigh a ton!), hotel room and meals, and either a car rental or a member available to drive. That really adds to the cost.

quiltingshorttimer

one thing that the big shows have to build into the cost of workshop instructors is that most teachers charge a flat fee for the class (and sometimes transportation, and room/board) and if the class doesn't fill, the show (or guild) still has to pay the flat fee. That has happened several times with our guild unfortunately.

Murphy224

Not exactly a "well known famous" quilter, but did you know that Sulky offers guild programs and workshops? I have attended both and are well worth the time. Our guild had them do the free motion workshop and it was well worth it. Eric Dexler is extremely knowledgeable and very entertaining. They are back on Saturday for the Daisy Placemat workshop. Looking forward to it.

https://www.sulky.com/education-events/guild-events/

AnitaGrossmanSolomon

I'm glad to have taught and lectured for your Guild in 2013. What a pleasant group. I got a big kick out of a couple of Show and Tell Quilts of Valor made from the free Anita's Arrowhead pattern :-) The quilts were huge and stunning