I have a very clear recollection of my first sewing lesson.  I was probably 9 or 10.  My Grandmother set up my Mother’s Singer Featherweight sewing machine in its wood topped card table in our tiny little living room (I still have both the machine and the table, by the way).  She showed me how to thread and load the bobbin and then how to thread the machine.  She gave me a brief explanation and demonstration of how the machine worked.  She let me do a few practice runs to see how a little pressure on the foot pedal would transfer to the speed of the action of the needle.  And then, we were off and running!

A few pieces of brightly colored scrap material was quickly turned into a small pillow case.  The praise from my Grandmother was just as wonderful as my sense of accomplishment.  We went on to work together many times on projects big and small.  Early efforts expanded my dolls wardrobes as well as my own.  It was the 60s – having matching outfits with my dolls and later, with my new baby sister, was “cool.”

Sewing is one of the many creative outlets that I have learned, fostered, shared and used to express myself throughout my life.  I have made clothes, curtains, costumes, slipcovers and other necessary items over the years.  But my favorite use of this medium is definitely quilting.  In the future, I will show you completed quilts and projects I have worked on in the past and bring you along with me on current creations!