I grew up on a farm in Kansas.
I had an Aunt Dorothy.
She didn’t have a Toto.
A tornado hit our farm when I was little.
We had a party line, two longs and a short was our ring.
My mother was a quilter
My grandmothers on both sides were quilters.
I was born with great potential quilting genes.
I have yet to discover them all.
Church quilting was at our house.
Quilt frames were up in the dining room.
My sister and I sat under the quilts and listened to all of the latest news.
We’d sneak to the kitchen and eat cookies and empty out the coffee cups.
I started sewing at seven and made my first dress at nine.
I learned more skills in 4-H. I took four years of Home Economics.
I met a boy who came into town on a motorcycle, he still has one.
He had long hair, mine was longer. It was 1975.
We fell in love and we got married.
I taught school and he was a mason.
Not the kind with pointy shoes who carry swords in parades and wear fez but
The kind that lays brick.
I was a teacher, then a principal.
We had three children a girl followed by two boys.
They are all J’s, Jessica, Joel and Joshua.
I loved fabric, I always loved fabric.
I opened a quilt shop.
It was the best job I ever had.
I had ideas and I made rulers.
I closed my shop.
I traveled and sold rulers.
I desperately needed help.
An angel, Donna, introduced me to Madeleine.
Madeleine was a great asset.
Madeleine came to Houston with friends Donna and Ellen.
They stayed in a scary hostel in a scary part of town.
I worried about them, they thought I was silly.
They brought me to my first Modern Quilt Guild meeting.
I’m old enough to be their mother.
Check out her website here!
