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My next project was a quilt for the master bedroom. A department store was going out of business and I purchased some beautiful black and ivory Jinny Beyer fabric for 75% off. The quilt, backing and batting cost me less than $20. I made a Starburst from this fabric and a high school math teacher helped me learn angles to make the templates for the corner sections. My mom looked at my first attempt to quilt and ask if those big stitches were quilting or basting. To rectify this problem, I asked the Quilt Guild of the First St. John's Lutheran Church in Kensington, Kansas, to teach me to quilt with tiny stitches. A picture of the women who taught me is in the gallery.
I enjoyed every aspect of quilting. Choosing the fabric, touching the fabric, designing a top, cutting and sewing. I tuned a neighbor's piano in exchange for her old quilt frame so I didn't have to use a hoop. To help with family finances, I became a professional quilter. This was an ideal situation because I enjoyed quilting and could have my dream of being a stay at home mom.
When we moved to Oklahoma, the boys were older and I worked outside the home and often missed the hours behind the quilt frame and the creative process of quilting. When I married Gary, I again had the luxury to enjoy my quilting addiction. Now I make things because a fabric speaks to me or I see a design I want to try. I've been able to branch out on technique and am learning to hand applique. I've sold some of my work, some is "on the shelf" to either sell, to be given as gifts, or to bequest to my children, stepchildren and future grandchildren. I know how fortunate I am to be married to a man that supports my addiction - even to the point of designing a quilt frame and fixing a room just for my sewing and quilting. Maybe the quilt room is self-preservation for him - so he can find the kitchen table! He's active in helping me design quilts, making templates, finding ideas to make the quilting process more physically comfortable - like my new elevated cutting board so I don't have to bend over and get a sore back.
Together we are the webmaster and webmistress of Patchwork Masterpieces. Gary is the idea-man and checks the wording, site lay-out, design, style sheets, legalities, assures the computer is backed-up, defragged, and working good. Debbie completes the hand-coding, scans and enhances old photos, searches facts on the internet, hunts for new links and tries to find time to make new quilts to put on the web page. We both take photographs, make graphics and verify the site maintains link integrity. Patchwork Masterpieces was originally a small section of our main site, A Scoff an' Scuff; however, on March 23, 2002, it had grown to the point it got a graphics facelift and became a stand-alone site.
In addition to Patchwork Masterpieces, we currently have four other sites: A Scoff an' Scuff, D&G Associates Web Design, and
Dragon's Blood in Me.
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