NQA Member Spotlight

I remember always doing something with arts and crafts. From an early age I was excited by a brand new box of crayons, a package of colored construction paper, a basket of pine cones, and bottles of glitter.... oh the glitter! At school, scouts, or summer camp, my favorite activity was always "arts and crafts". Growing up I tried every craft I could, macramé, knitting, bead work and of course sewing. I remember salvaging buttons, trim and scraps of fabric from discarded clothing. I would sit with a needle and thread trying to make Barbie and Midge clothing. My best Christmas gift was a portable sewing machine when I was thirteen. I began sewing my own clothes and accessories. Even then I remember saving all my scraps with the idea of someday making a quilt, which I had no clue how to do. However time passed and it was many years later before I started quilting.

I remember the day vividly, my children were very small and as we walked through my favorite craft store I spotted a magazine on miniature quilts. Something hit me and hit me hard! I could do that! It was small, it was a quilt, and it was something I was sure I had time to do. I devoured the magazine. It had enough information that I was able to figure out how to make a quilt, and I did. Actually I made several of them! My life (and my family's) has never been the same. I, like many other quilters, became obsessed with quilting and collecting fabric. Oh I made plenty of mistakes along the way. I didn't know anyone who quilted, there were very few books available, and I just did what I thought would work. Well eventually I took some lessons as a local shop and researched as much as I could to find out how to do everything the right way. I have come a long way since then.

Quilting is my passion and in ways I would never have expected. Once I started making the miniature quilts, I had requests for them as gifts and purchases. That led to craft shows, starting my own custom-order quilt business, artisan centers, and meeting the right people at the right time. I have now been quilting for over twenty years, I am a West Virginia artisan, my quilts have been sent all over the world, I design, lecture, and have just had my first quilt book published!

My quilt passion began with that first magazine, I must have always had the desire in me, I just didn't know it. That of course let to my passion with fabric. That led to my passion for designing quilts. I like a challenge and realized that I enjoyed creating quilts based on a challenge;

• What is the smallest size hexagon I can make?
• Could I make a quilt based on a mathematical question "What is the least number of different size squares that can be put together to make up a square?"
• "Here is all that is left of my grandmothers favorite feed sack; can you make a quilt around it?"
• My daughter asking, "Can we make a calendar quilt with my old clothes?"
• My son asking to make a quilt out of all the tee shirts he and I had saved (that one ended up a two-sided king size!).
• Could I use just blue and white fabric to make a quilt to fit a tall skinny wall space?
• Could I make a wallhanging to match wallpaper?.... and so on.

These challenges and more make for a varied collection of quilts. Though I love the traditional look of quilts, these challenges inspire me and force me to look at fabric and quilts in different ways.

My other quilt passion is teaching, that was something that surprised me. I was approached by the owner of a new quilt shop to teach classes. I thought it would be fun to try and I was anxious to carry on the knowledge of quilting. Little did I know it would lead to my passion for teaching quilting!

I love to see the excited faces of a new student, the enthusiasm as they sew that first block, the joy and pride of that first completed project! That was over ten years ago. Since then I have taught hundreds of students, not only beginning classes, but all variations of quilting. I also started a Block Of the Month group (The BOM Squad) while teaching at the shop. The shop, unfortunately, is no longer there, but the BOM Squad has survived. It has grown from six to over twenty students. Besides having multiple block of the month projects every month we have made strong friendships among the members. "Everyone's life touches another", for me it has been through quilting.

Quilting is my life. I am grateful for these passions, for my dedicated students, and my supportive family.

Locally I am a member of the Fort Henry Piecemakers and the West Virginia Quilters, Inc. I can be reached at stitchedbuy@aol.com.

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