About Me
A Bit About Me
How It Started
My quilting story began in February 2007 with the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework and a lot of trial and error. My mom was a hand quilter, but I’ll admit it — hand quilting felt painfully slow to me at first, and I never followed in her footsteps. (I’ve come around since through English paper piecing and the occasional hand appliqué project. Apparently it just took me a couple of decades to appreciate slow stitching.) My early years were really about the machine. Piecing many Eleanor Burns and Jenny Doan patterns on my basic Brother, and free-motion quilting on the kitchen table. I learned by asking questions, watching far too much YouTube, and getting things wrong until they finally started going right.
The Longarm Journey
My longarm story actually starts on a kitchen floor.
I was pregnant with my second son and pin basting yet another quilt on the tile floor when my husband knelt down to help. After pinning more quilts than either of us wanted to remember, he asked how on earth we could stop doing this part of the process.
.I told him to buy me the longarm I’d been dreaming about since making my very first baby quilt — and to his everlasting credit, he did.
After nearly a year of searching the used market, we found the right machine. That first longarm carried me through five wonderful years of quilting before I eventually upgraded to my current APQS Millennium with QuiltPath. Now I can do computerized edge-to-edge designs, computerized custom work or hand-guided quilting (sometimes combining all three) to make each project shine.
Community and Continuing to Learn
Quilting has given so much to me, and being involved in quilting community is truly a joy.
I serve as Vice President and Program Director of Quilt North, a 180-member guild here in New York’s Capital Region, and I regularly quilt for several local charities through the guilds I belong to.
I’m also still learning all the time. QuiltPath Camp, Breaking Boundaries, and Graffiti Quilting are just a few of the classes that have shaped my work, and I continue signing up for more whenever I can. One of the things I love most about quilting is that there is always something new to learn.
Why I Love Quilting for Others
What I love most about customer work is helping a quilt move toward the finish line. I find something to appreciate in every quilt that comes across my frame, and many of them are completely different from anything I would make myself, which is exactly what makes it interesting.
Different color palettes. Different patterns. Different traditions. Different stories.
Every quilt has somebody behind it, with hours of love, intention, and work stitched into every seam. I feel honored to play a small part in that journey before it heads back to you to be bound, labeled, loved, and sent on to wherever it was always meant to go.
When I’m not at the longarm, you’ll usually find me quilting my own projects, painting, or crocheting somewhere in the house — usually with at least one son asking what’s for dinner.
If you have a quilt top waiting for a finish, I’d love to hear about it. I’m excited to talk through your project. Connect with me.
Thanks so much for trusting me with your work. I can’t wait to see what you’ve made.
Let's Talk About Your Finished Quilt
Whether this is your first finished top or you’ve been quilting for decades, I’d love to help you bring your project to the finish line.