About Us

I began my fascination with sewing at about the age of eight when I took sewing lessons at my local Singer store in Pascagoula, Mississippi. My grandmother lived with us at the time and she was an avid seamstress. She helped me out and encouraged me.

I continued to sew throughout junior high and high school. I was the girl making bound buttonholes and matching plaids in home economics class, while others where making elastic-waisted skirts. In college, where I majored in medical illustration, I continued sewing, often incorporating “soft sculpture” in my projects for art classes. The only quilts I made during this time were blue jean quilts for “boyfriends.” I’d ask my boyfriends’ moms for their old jeans and then sew the squares together. The “quilting” was accomplished by tying the layers together with yarn.

After college, I embarked on a career in Corporate Communications, working for AT&T, and then American Express. During this period, my roommate and I took an Eleanor Burns’ Quilt-in-a-Day class. This was in the days before rotary cutters when you had to tear your strips of fabric. What a mess that made! Still, that is when I became hooked on quilting.

It was also during this period of time that I met my Dutch husband. We met in New York when I was working for American Express and moved to London where we lived for thirteen years. While in London, I earned an MBA from London Business School and started my family. We were fortunate to live in a large house with many floors and I had a sewing studio on the top floor. In addition to making curtains, I continued to quilt. Most of the quilts I made during this time were baby quilts for friends and then some charity quilts for my daughters’ nursery school.

In 2000, we moved back to the USA, more specifically, to Arizona. I took over the dining room as my “studio” and began quilting with a friend on weekends. It was at this time that I discovered machine appliqué. With Bernina’s Artista software, I found a new outlet for my old illustration skills. Over the past few years I have polished these digitizing skills, and I have developed my own styles of appliqué. One of these styles incorporates raw edges and a three dimensional aspect that I call Confetti Appliqué™ . My other style of appliqué, called HappNstance, is based on my 1920s and 30s embroidery designs from my husband’s grandfather’s factory in Berlin.

I love this creative journey. I hope that you will join me!