When my daughter was two years old, I took a series of heirloom sewing classes to learn to create perfect traditional little girl dress. The first one I put on my almost three-year-old fashionista daughter, she immediately began reworking the sleeves. Her three-year-old portrait contains that very dress in a sleeveless configuration. One of the original sleeves is mounted like a hunting trophy in my sewing studio.  My neighbor took all of this in and said, “if you can make that you can make a quilt”. I looked at her like she was highly overestimating my abilities. Quilts were something my beautiful, wildly talented grandmothers created. I took a little convincing that it was worth a try. I remember the first lesson, cutting with a rotary cutter. Oh my. I quickly made quilts for all my children and then started with nieces and nephews.

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In the beginning they were simple creations. Later, I would often pick a block and sew a couple of versions before mass production could occur. I liked to figure out the best way to piece a block so that I had no surprises when in the production phase. Then right before the COVID pandemic hit, I discovered Michelle Hiatt. She introduced me to Studio 180 tools and as part of her Stitchin’ Sisters Series, she met with the class via Zoom each month to teach us how to use the tools to create fabulous blocks which in turn became fabulously complex quilts. With that education, I went from looking at complex quilt patterns and jumping in to dissecting them in my head to the individual units and which tool it would take to make it. I began teaching on demand lessons to my friends and random acquaintances (aka strangers) in quilt stores and in booths at quilt shows.  Thanks to Studio 180 tools, I am a fairly accomplished piecer.

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In 2015, my husband and I retired. We moved to where I wanted to live for the first time in 35 years. So now we have a home in Belmont, NC and in North Florida.

A few years ago, I was asked to work at a local quilt shop. I enjoyed it. At the quilt shop, I did all the usual tasks but also taught a few classes. As well as continuing my on-demand/instant tutorials on Studio 180 tools.

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A few years ago, my husband said to me as we were leaving the AQS show in Pennsylvania, you should become a quilt teacher. I began to ponder this idea. What could I teach that would really make a difference in a quilter's life. Studio 180 tools was the answer. So off to the mountains I went to learn the Studio 180 way.​ Studio 180 tools have changed the way I piece a quilt and my satisfaction with the process. I want to share the joy and certainty that I get using Studio 180 tools with everyone else. Back in the day we had a saying in the training world, “Enthusiasm is the most important quality in a teacher, because the last four letters stand for “I am sold myself!”. 

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