Impressions Expo Long Beach 2026

Bonnie Nielsen, author of “PUNCH” and a leading expert in embroidery, will share her expertise on digitizing and executing machine embroidery for production.

I was introduced to sewing by my father back in 1979. During his time in the Navy, he learned how to intricately sew upholstery in the boats that he managed in Vietnam. As part of my child hood he taught me the trade of sewing the different upholsteries in boats, and cars. I kept this practice at bay growing up, fixing car seats or leather couches for friends or family. As an adult, my first interaction with an embroidery machine was with a company by the name of Creative Embroidery. I quickly learned how to run a multi-head machine (12-head). Sewing various designs on a variety of hats, I immediately fell in love with the intricate, and mechanical aspects of the embroidery machine. Fast forward to 1997, my wife and I started Artworks, our own print and embroidery company. For six years we took orders from various airline companies, public school districts, and other types of businesses. Some of these included United Airlines, Lucent Technologies, and Drum Corps International. We embroidered large orders of shirts, bags, and hats. In 2002 I began working at Melco, and have held various positions from sales to management and engineering. Currently, I am the Director of Business Development and Product Manager of the Americas. I truly love the opportunities I have to assist the sales team in implementing Melco solutions at large corporate companies, including Nike, New Balance, and L.L Bean. I love to share my passion and knowledge of the machine with others, and the role I play at Melco has allowed me to do that. Nothing makes me happier than good quality embroidery, and my goal is to make sure companies who strive for this will receive it through the machines sold at Melco.