I started quilting about 30 years ago, my husband Mike was in the military and I had just had a couple of surgeries due to a misdiagnosed back problem that had kept me in bed for close to 7 years. I had always loved quilts but at the time hand piecing and quilting was the expected way to make a quilt. However, I knew that if it was going to take me a year to make a one quilt, I’d never devote that amount of time. This was about 1976 and with the bi-centennial celebrations, all of the ‘home arts’ came back into fashion. This revival changed my life because the sewing machine became an important part of piecing a quilt top as well as the option of machine quilting it.
We were living near Washington DC and I started taking quilting lessons both in MD and VA. Since I had always used a sewing machine to make clothes, I assumed that if I cut pieces (seam allowances included) accurately, I could easily just piece a quilt top and that became my approach to piecing. As a result, I don’t use straight pins to pin pieces together before sewing them and I don’t mark seams prior to sewing, I just use a Patchwork foot with a ¼” seam allowance to sew an accurate seam. I was soon asked to teach my method of piecing both traditional and my original patterns.
Since my husband was still in the military, we keep moving to different areas of the US but I was always able to incorporate my love, avocation and addiction to quilting into my life. After Mike retired from the Air Force (26+ years) we stopped moving every couple of years and he worked for an engineering firm for several years. Once my address became permanent, I was able to start publishing and selling my original patterns and start teaching nationally. After publishing 27 patterns, most of which were curved quilts, I became tired of folding and packaging paper patterns. My curved patterns were my most popular ones and I had thought of a unique plastic ruler that would cut all of the shapes that I was using to make my original curved patterns as well as all of the traditional curved patterns based on a ¼ circle. My husband had retired from the engineering firm and was very supportive in loaning me the money to manufacture my first Creative Curves Ruler (circular curves, little did he know that instead of retiring he’d become an essential part of my business and yes, he has made his own original quilt! After producing the first circular ruler we added several other sizes as well as oval curved rulers (Creative Curves Ellipse Rulers). We have also developed a Kaleidoscope ruler and a unique ruler (Multi-Angle, Wedge Ruler) that accurately cuts angles. Mike invented this fabulous new ruler that makes it easy to sew different angles together without having to paper piece. We are still actively involved in quilting and do quilt shows and teach nationally and internationally.
We were living near Washington DC and I started taking quilting lessons both in MD and VA. Since I had always used a sewing machine to make clothes, I assumed that if I cut pieces (seam allowances included) accurately, I could easily just piece a quilt top and that became my approach to piecing. As a result, I don’t use straight pins to pin pieces together before sewing them and I don’t mark seams prior to sewing, I just use a Patchwork foot with a ¼” seam allowance to sew an accurate seam. I was soon asked to teach my method of piecing both traditional and my original patterns.
Since my husband was still in the military, we keep moving to different areas of the US but I was always able to incorporate my love, avocation and addiction to quilting into my life. After Mike retired from the Air Force (26+ years) we stopped moving every couple of years and he worked for an engineering firm for several years. Once my address became permanent, I was able to start publishing and selling my original patterns and start teaching nationally. After publishing 27 patterns, most of which were curved quilts, I became tired of folding and packaging paper patterns. My curved patterns were my most popular ones and I had thought of a unique plastic ruler that would cut all of the shapes that I was using to make my original curved patterns as well as all of the traditional curved patterns based on a ¼ circle. My husband had retired from the engineering firm and was very supportive in loaning me the money to manufacture my first Creative Curves Ruler (circular curves, little did he know that instead of retiring he’d become an essential part of my business and yes, he has made his own original quilt! After producing the first circular ruler we added several other sizes as well as oval curved rulers (Creative Curves Ellipse Rulers). We have also developed a Kaleidoscope ruler and a unique ruler (Multi-Angle, Wedge Ruler) that accurately cuts angles. Mike invented this fabulous new ruler that makes it easy to sew different angles together without having to paper piece. We are still actively involved in quilting and do quilt shows and teach nationally and internationally.