At a young age I dabbled in sewing Barbie clothes with the encouragement of my mom. But that didn’t stick. As a teenager my mom enrolled me in a sewing class to make a dress. But that didn’t stick either. In 1993 I got married and as wedding present my mom traded in her old Singer towards the purchase of my first sewing machine – a refurbished “newer” Singer. I’m not sure why, but in my case this third time was the charm. It was on that machine that I got started.
At first sewing was a way to make inexpensive clothing and gifts since I was on a tight budget as a twenty-something. But the more I went to the fabric store the more the colors, patterns, and textures began to speak to my inner self. It was a slow growing passion, fostered by following my mother’s own quilting work and reading catalogs, specifically Keepsake Quilting. The bit of crazy quilting I tried in the late 1990s prompted a close friend and artist to plant the seed – why not try to sell my work.
That is something I’ve been thinking about for years and finally acted on in 2006, offering soft fabric baby toys, a few quilts, a few housewares, and an assortment of sewn and knitted scarves and hats. To do more, such as venture into free-motion quilting, I knew I needed to upgrade from my close to 20-year old Singer. I bought a new Janome in early 2007 and have been picking up speed with my clothwork ever since.
While I appreciate the beauty and precision of traditional blocks and quilt designs, both old and new, the more graphic, abstract and color-saturated designs speak louder to me. In Quilting Arts magazine and books such as the Kemshall’s “The Painted Quilt” I have begun to learn about techniques, materials and strategies that have resulted in a veritable explosion of ideas in my head. Inspired primarily by the natural world, I also find inspiration in the patterns of light and color on everything from mini-blinds to butter on pancakes. Learning techniques and materials for translating those visions into textiles, either functional quilts or expressive art quilts is the next step for me. All the while, I want to keep playing with color by making items for people to purchase and enjoy.
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