My grandmother inspired me to learn all the handicrafts, particularly sewing. When I was 8, I laid my 3 year old sister on mom's yellow chenille bedspread, traced around her, cut out and hand-sewed a dress for her! I got a good laugh from the grown-ups, who were playing cards while this was going on, instead of a spanking, and almost 50 years later, I am still 'inventing'. I love to recycle - fur coats into teddy bears and hobby horses, jeans ... Read Full Bio »

My grandmother inspired me to learn all the handicrafts, particularly sewing. When I was 8, I laid my 3 year old sister on mom's yellow chenille bedspread, traced around her, cut out and hand-sewed a dress for her! I got a good laugh from the grown-ups, who were playing cards while this was going on, instead of a spanking, and almost 50 years later, I am still 'inventing'. I love to recycle - fur coats into teddy bears and hobby horses, jeans into purses and campfire quilts, men's neckties into vests, and so on. I just recently got bit by the quilting bug, and holy cow, can it take over your life - in a good way! Recently I bound 30 quilts for a woman who makes charity quilts for orphanages overseas. In exchange, she machine quilted the Ribbon of Hope quilt for us for free. My current project involves making a quilt for all the great and great-great grandchildren that my grandmother isn't around to sew for - there's 31 of them!