My quilting journey started in 2015 although I was sewing long before that. I blame my Mom for my fabric addiction. My Mom taught me how to sew and how to craft. She is always doing something crafty. Back in the day it was sewing clothes for my dolls, purse covers for my purse with the covers you could change out, clothes for me and she did ceramics.

I started going with her to the Mystery Block of the Month at our LQS and it was shear torture. I hated the Friday night before the Saturday meeting because that meant I needed to finish my block that evening. If my block wasn’t finished, I had to pay to get the next month’s fabric. I certainly wasn’t going to pay for the misery - LOL. That was year 1. Year 2 I signed up and if it was possible I liked piecing even less. I am sure I drove my Mom crazy. But year 3 came along and the Mystery Blocks of the Month were in lime green and hot pink and bright white and sunny yellow. That was the year that I came to love quilting. I would even rip out a stitch if I put the block together incorrectly - sometimes.

Since then I have been making quilt tops and then I decided I wanted to make the entire quilt myself. I learned how to make a quilt sandwich and began quilting on my home sewing machine. I then discovered the Grace Hoop Frame. I found a used one on FaceBook Marketplace and my husband and I took a road trip to pick it up somewhere in the hills of Kentucky. I was in heaven. No longer did I have to shove a quilt in the throat space of my domestic sewing machine. I just loaded my quilt sandwich on to my hoop frame and away I went.

I quilt because I love making things for others whether it be family members or people I will never even meet. And I’ve made the best friends with other quilters.