Our Story

I was raised on a homestead just outside of Manhattan, Kansas.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but not everyone grows up with chickens, goats and rabbits out back and a wood stove as the only source of heat through the winter.  In every moment, I was surrounded by people who were resourceful and able to create most things from scratch.  My dad had a garden each year, and with his own hands and skill, built the houses and hutches for the animals.  My mom kept Angora rabbits and Angora goats.  My eagerness to learn landed me right beside her, learning how to spin, dye, weave, knit, felt and crochet those natural fibers.  My mother also taught me to make braided wool rugs and taught me other resourceful skills such as embroidery, latch hook, locker hook and cross stitch.  Though immensely talented with yarn, my mom was no seamstress.  She gave me lessons on sewing machine basics and left me to figure the rest out. My next best resource was the public library.  I dabbled in doll making and continued sewing various projects through high school, but never meddled past basic curtains or pillows.
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Quilting entered my sphere after a meaningful visit to the Beach Museum at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. The museum was featuring an exhibit of historical Kansas quilts and it completely pulled me in.  I marveled at how women who were so busy just getting through each day somehow found time to hand stitch these works of art.  I went straight home and started on my very first quilt.  I still have it, and I can tell you it’s no beauty, but it was the first of many.  That was in 1999 and I have never looked back.