When married life and the working world took over, sewing continued as a wardrobe mainstay and also a hobby and retreat. My trusty Elna SU to this day works very hard. My machine and I have produced everything from lingerie to wedding dresses to winter coats, to teddy bears and Father Christmases, from bar-b-q covers to maternity clothes (not much difference there!), diapers and dress-shirts and curtains and even slippers that look like the head of a moose. There's never been a time of life that didn't need the machine for something.

With the birth of my first son, I priced out the baby blankets and just couldn't get myself to pay that kind of money. So, crib sheets, bumper pads et al came off the machine - but a finishing touch was needed - a baby quilt. And what fun!! - no need to keep trying it on and adjusting it - no need to change patterns with changing size - I was hooked - I had to make more! And if one size didn't fit all, the size I make fits somebody!! Amost twenty years later, many quilts, comforters and quillows later, that baby quilt has been comfort to two boys and is now in need of a new filling.  New quilts have been and are being made for the guys.

An inspiration week in '92 in Olds started a landscape quilt has re-directed almost all sewing efforts away from clothes. Joen Wolfrom forever changed the way I look at fabric. I was born to sew - but I live to design and sew quilts and wallhangings!! I'm still taking classes and courses, learning more every time.

Then came the internet! I was am not alone!! What a wonderful feeling - finding all these other women who are just a crazy about squeezing in quilt making into already hectic lives! We're international!!  I go by "Smoky" with the Royal Purple Ladies of the Night (R.P.L.O.T.N).  Hubby says it really means us ladies "Are Plottin' where to spend our next fabric dollar!.

Other hobbies that include photography and sailing (and a lapsed pilot's license) give me an endless source of ideas which are floating in this head. Our recent home renovations have added a studio to our home so that I can spread out even more.  Fabrics are centralized and organized and a drawing board always handy.  My computer background lets me bore one and all with my projects.

2005 - update... well - projects just keep on coming... the latest is the making of a quilt in the style of "Dear Jane".  My quilt is a tribute to my maternal grandmother - and will be called Nanny's Legacy.  The links above will get you to the progress site.

2006 update...  a dream job has come my way... working in a quilt shop! www.earthlygoodsquilting.com

February 2007 update.... the quilt shop is up for sale!  Employee Patti buys it in July/August!  We are still in business WHEW!!!

April 2007 update...  A Pattern is published and released! 

And in 2009 - another pattern - the Quilted Wallet!!  is being sold at Earthly Goods!

2010 - January - now only teaching at the store.

Ahh - so many ideas, so little time.