My sewing journey starts way back to when I was around 7 years old and my mother was a 4H leader. I learned to sew from watching my mother who sewed clothes for my sister who was tall and very skinny (this was the days before we had sizes 0, 1, 2). My mother and grandmother would make simple quilts from fabrics leftover from sewing clothes. I still have a couple of those quilts today, although they have been very well loved. My first sewing project in 4H was a skirt which I still have (thanks mom for saving it for me). At that time, I really didn’t have any interest in quilting and just mostly made doll clothes. In fact, when I was first married back in the 1980’s and Cabbage Patch dolls were the rage, I made clothing for the dolls and sold them at local festivals.

I didn’t catch the quilting bug until around 1997 when I started watching HGTV and Alex Anderson had a quilting show called Simply Quilting. I caught the bug bad and after about the 3rd episode I was scouting for all the local quilt shops. I saw the episode featuring Judy Matheson’s Mariners Compass Quilts. I went right out on a mission to find that book so I could make a mariner’s compass quilt. No one told me this pattern should not be what I start out with, but to no avail, I made a small wall hanging for our house. I now have two granddaughters that I hope will someday want to learn to quilt from Grandma so that I can continue to pass down the tradition.

When I was older, I went with my mom to drop off her quilt to a local lady who had a small longarm machine on her front porch. I was fascinated by the machine she used to complete my mom’s quilt. I believe that is when the seed was planted. I started going to quilt shows and started seeing the longarm sales booths. I really didn’t think that getting a longarm machine would be possible until I attended the Paducah quilt show in Kentucky in 2009. I thought I would take a class to see what it was all about. I ended up buying one of the class model Handi Quilters and hauled the machine head home with me. Handi Quilter shipped the table from their warehouse. I absolutely loved being able to start a quilt and then finish it myself. 

Now I really enjoy seeing what other quilters are making and be able to bring their quilts to life with my machine quilting. I hope that you will give me the privilege of machine quilting your treasures.