Who am I?

I am a true maker. You know, one who constantly says, “I can make that.”  

No matter what the medium-clay, paint, yarn, metal, fabric or even hockey sticks–there is generally some type of art in my hands.  Something is always under construction.

Growing up in Philadelphia, my Saturdays were spent in art school.  In 6th grade, I asked for a sewing machine, though no one in my family ever used one. I made Barbie clothes and fixed my friends’ jeans, then got a business degree at Penn State and worked for a trucking company! After I married my super guy and had two kids, we moved across the country to the desert of Arizona. But through it all, I always had my art.

In one word, my creative process is “spontaneous”.  Sometimes my work starts with a sketch, but usually changes into something completely different.  Even when guided by a pattern, it’s only a suggestion.  

I say, “Rules? Nah!” and encourage my quilt friends to do the same.  I get a charge from seeing sewists let their “quilt guard” down and reach their “ah ha” moment trying a new improvisational technique.  Whether in guilds, classrooms or festivals across the country, teaching is truly what I love.

I’m pretty proud of being inducted into the Arizona Quilters Hall of Fame as well as my three awards from Arizona Quilt Guild annual shows.  My work has been published in magazines including Quilt Scene, Generation Q and Windham Fabric’s Look Books and I’ve written quilt and bag patterns, too.

When not in my studio, you can find me on my bike, skis, or yoga mat or sewing out in a campground.

For a little more info, read my speech from the Arizona Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, September 2017

     click on the menu at "Awards" then Speech.