Award Winning Quilt Artist!
I am a self taught artist and have studied and worked with many different mediums from pencil drawing to clay sculpture. I have learned so much from each exploration, but none have influenced my creativity more than working with textiles.
I began my art quilt journey by accident in 2005. My husband is an avid outdoors man, and I decided to create a "Fabric Wall Hanging" for him to put in our den. Little did I know, I was creating my very first art quilt.
I grew up with a very creative mother and two grandmothers who introduced me to traditional quilting at an early age. I was born sewing and was always making something. I never believed I would find my artistic voice so close to home.
I have always loved nature and the beauty of God's creation and find inspiration everywhere I look. When I began, I didn't understand rotary cutter, nine patch, or applique. However, I have never been one to say, "I can't do that." In fact, I am more of a, "How hard can it be?" kind of person. When I realized there was more to the construction process than I thought, I took a power weekend with my mom and sister to learn hand applique, basic machine quilting, and beyond stippling. My eyes were open to endless possibilities and soon my pocket book for a new quilting machine. This is where the love story really begins. I joined my local quilt guild to be with like minded individuals and was encouraged to enter my quilts into some quilt shows. I was overwhelmed by the response I received. My first competition was the 2006, Hoffman Challenge. I entered "Moonlight Goddess" which won, best first time entry for the applique category. I was very excited, so I decided to enter more competitions. I received several awards and had the opportunity to have 2 of my quilts published in Lark Books, 500 Art Quits, as well as the AQS 2010 Engagement Calendar.
With every quilt I made, I learned more and more. I devoured art quilt books and magazines and decided that this was how I wanted to express my creativity. I learned to refine my style and techniques and find my voice.
I also began teaching by accident. My quilt guild wanted me to put together a little technique class. I thought, "ok, three or four people at a local quilt shop...no big deal." Right! To my surprise, the guild rented a hall, catered lunch, and had fifteen people signed up. Not one to back down from a challenge, I put together my first class. I had so much fun and realized how much I love helping others on their own road to artistic discovery that I had to do it again. From there I started teaching embellishment techniques at local quilt shops. Each class was made up from a my original designs. From my classes, I designed a colection of art quilt patterns.
Because the success of my students feed my soul, I wanted to do more for them. That is when I designed Art-Scapes, landscape patterns inspired by my students and my classes. I listened to my students and understood the struggles and challenges involved in creating landscape quilts. My goal with these patterns is to teach individuals to explore their own creativity with a little help from me. That is what I love about my incredible journey of "Painting Life with Fabric!"
I began my art quilt journey by accident in 2005. My husband is an avid outdoors man, and I decided to create a "Fabric Wall Hanging" for him to put in our den. Little did I know, I was creating my very first art quilt.
I grew up with a very creative mother and two grandmothers who introduced me to traditional quilting at an early age. I was born sewing and was always making something. I never believed I would find my artistic voice so close to home.
I have always loved nature and the beauty of God's creation and find inspiration everywhere I look. When I began, I didn't understand rotary cutter, nine patch, or applique. However, I have never been one to say, "I can't do that." In fact, I am more of a, "How hard can it be?" kind of person. When I realized there was more to the construction process than I thought, I took a power weekend with my mom and sister to learn hand applique, basic machine quilting, and beyond stippling. My eyes were open to endless possibilities and soon my pocket book for a new quilting machine. This is where the love story really begins. I joined my local quilt guild to be with like minded individuals and was encouraged to enter my quilts into some quilt shows. I was overwhelmed by the response I received. My first competition was the 2006, Hoffman Challenge. I entered "Moonlight Goddess" which won, best first time entry for the applique category. I was very excited, so I decided to enter more competitions. I received several awards and had the opportunity to have 2 of my quilts published in Lark Books, 500 Art Quits, as well as the AQS 2010 Engagement Calendar.
With every quilt I made, I learned more and more. I devoured art quilt books and magazines and decided that this was how I wanted to express my creativity. I learned to refine my style and techniques and find my voice.
I also began teaching by accident. My quilt guild wanted me to put together a little technique class. I thought, "ok, three or four people at a local quilt shop...no big deal." Right! To my surprise, the guild rented a hall, catered lunch, and had fifteen people signed up. Not one to back down from a challenge, I put together my first class. I had so much fun and realized how much I love helping others on their own road to artistic discovery that I had to do it again. From there I started teaching embellishment techniques at local quilt shops. Each class was made up from a my original designs. From my classes, I designed a colection of art quilt patterns.
Because the success of my students feed my soul, I wanted to do more for them. That is when I designed Art-Scapes, landscape patterns inspired by my students and my classes. I listened to my students and understood the struggles and challenges involved in creating landscape quilts. My goal with these patterns is to teach individuals to explore their own creativity with a little help from me. That is what I love about my incredible journey of "Painting Life with Fabric!"