I remember that there were some lovely old quilts around our home when I was a little girl and my mother was a magnificent seamstress who made a lot of special occasion dresses for my sisters and I as well as the most exquisite Barbie clothes. I started sewing as a girl, making doll clothes and learned how to use a sewing machine in home ec, starting in 7th grade. By high school I was making myself clothes, even tailoring a coat then making a wedding dress for my soon to be sister-in-law. I continued my sewing, making curtains and household items and clothes for my little ones. Some time in the ’80s my mother started quilt making, but she did the cardboard template and hand-piecing methods that were too slow for me. Enter Eleanor Burns, Georgia Bonesteel, et. al and I caught the quilting bug, too. My first quilt was a log cabin QIAD that took more than a day...it was a gift for a retiring pastor. No doubt I would be horrified to see it now. One day I stumbled into Harriet Hargrave’s quilt shop and learned how beautiful machine quilting could be. I took her quilting class, she hired me to make some store samples, then to work in the shop. Harriet is a firm believer in having employees who are knowledgeable and she taught me how to make high quality quilts, for which I am very grateful! There’s more to the story, but this is long enough! I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s stories.