I love learning free motion quilting because I love to see how people connect with the design and then are empowered to try it out. I have always admired swirls and was super intimidated by them. I look back at the quilts I have made over the years and can see my progression.
My heritage means a lot to me. All four of my grandparents were born to homesteaders of Alberta. My great grandparents came here for more opportunities for their children. They all became closely connected to the earth, planting and animals (sheep and cows). Many became involved in local politics, entertaining and community building. The mainstay for them was farming. Growing, harvesting, and repeating that every year.
When I teach my beginning free motion quilting class I often refer to it as ‘Quilt As Desired’. after going through detailed instructions on how to construct a quilt, the end usually says something like,’Quilt as Desired”. However if the person is unfamiliar with free motion quilting they are not able to achieve that goal.
‘Overwhelmed’ was how I used to feel about this kind of quilting.
I remember going to a silent auction and standing beside a donated quilt. I was admiring all the elements such as colour, pattern, layout and quilting when a lady beside me broke my admiration by stating in a rather brusk and annoyed manor, “I’ll never understand it, they take perfectly good fabric, cut it up and sew it all back together!” and off she went in a huff.
I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in 13 years on Friday. She reminded me of something I had said about myself and my friend. I said, ‘I think so out of the box that I don’t see the box and my husband is so in the box that the walls are the only thing that he sees’.
I’ve cracked the code on permanent change!
After spending the past 25 years riding the nauseating roller coaster of weight loss and gain with its accompanying negative self talk and discomfort, I knew I needed to help others achieve the same results.
Based out of Canada. International teacher and traveler.
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