I started sewing at age 10 through 4-H. My very first project was a beautiful lavender apron. I still remember painstakingly ripping out all the stitches when I grew impatient waiting for my instructor—my mom—to show me how to properly align the pockets. Though that apron is long gone, I’m incredibly proud of my 42 years of experience spent in front of sewing machines of every kind.

For the first 35 years, my focus was mainly on garment and bag making. I pieced together a few quilts here and there, but I never felt successful at quilting until my late 40s. I had convinced myself I just wasn’t good at it. Then I discovered YouTube, Pat Sloan, and a whole world of generous quilting teachers.

I quickly learned that careful preparation leads to beautiful piecing, but I also learned the most important lesson of all: done is better than perfect.

About two years ago, I took the leap and bought my first hoop frame and longarm. With no digital designs, it was just me, the machine, and free-motion quilting. I became confident with simple designs, stitching in the ditch, and ruler work, but I knew I wanted to tackle larger quilts than my hoop frame allowed.

This spring, after many tears, countless prayers, and a tremendous amount of hard work, we finally set up our dream home studio with our beautiful Betsy—a Janome QMP 20 on a 12-foot frame with Pro-Stitcher Premium. We also added Adobe Illustrator so I can create custom digital designs for my quilts.

There’s nothing I love more than taking a drawing or photo and transforming it into a quilt design, then lovingly stitching it to life. I’ve never felt more fulfilled in my work or my creativity.

My first student in the studio was my mom—the woman who taught me to sew. Now I’ve had the joy of teaching her to quilt. Since then, I’ve also taught my husband.

If you’d like to learn too, check out my calendar for upcoming Quilting 101 classes and other fun sewing and quilting workshops.