Learned to sew watching my grandmother use her treadle Singer at age 8 making clothes for my Barbies in 1973. I still have scraps from her stash. We made a quilt top the next summer together to show me how to piece on paper. Still have that, too. It is so incredibly ugly, and I love every fabric and stitch in it. My DDH (dear, dead husband) bought me a sewing machine in the late 1980's out of the blue and I made three quilt tops. Life ... Read Full Bio »

Learned to sew watching my grandmother use her treadle Singer at age 8 making clothes for my Barbies in 1973. I still have scraps from her stash. We made a quilt top the next summer together to show me how to piece on paper. Still have that, too. It is so incredibly ugly, and I love every fabric and stitch in it. My DDH (dear, dead husband) bought me a sewing machine in the late 1980's out of the blue and I made three quilt tops. Life happened, I got busy with that, then suddenly we moved. I found myself with time and a new home and the sewing machine resurfaced in my life in the 1990's. I made curtains, quilts and baby things for our boy. Another move, life happening, and no sewing. Then one day, out of the blue, my husband is no longer living. I have no idea how sewing became my grief therapy, but it did. From the closet full of no longer worn clothes came a memory quilt for my 11 year old's bed. Then out came projects started as many as 10 years previous to be completed. It has been four years since that day and probably 15 quilts, 30 tote bags, 15 flannel PJ pants and who knows what else. I'm still trying to heal the hole in my heart, always will. Sewing keeps me from more destructive devices. I pride myself on sewing things I like from scraps, thrift store fabric, remanent bins and yard sale finds. When I have someone cut a bolt, I have a coupon in my hand for it. I'm a wannabe modern quilter that enjoys the connection of the past to the present. I'm no art quilter: my creativity is built on so many before me. Quilts are things to keep the person under them safe from the forces around us.