1. Why quilts?

But to begin at the beginning, why this blog?

Shortly after my second son was born, I took back my own last name. At the time, my husband was pursuing a Ph.D.; I was a housewife, young mother of two, former English teacher, and part-time wage earner who really needed to figure out what her life was going to be about. My symbolic name-retrieval—and all the thoughts leading up to it—marked the end of a time when I had all the answers and the beginning of an era of asking the right questions. I had set in motion changes which ultimately led to a career in quiltmaking. Now that I am in my fifth decade and have found some answers (this time unaccompanied by the arrogance of my youth), I've also learned that I can share my “wisdom” only with people who want to hear it. I am writing so that those people can find what I have to offer: comfort and company along the way.

This blog will tell the story of how I became a professional quiltmaker. I have achieved neither artistic nor financial stardom. As far as I know, parents do not usually cradle their infants while murmuring hopes that their young offspring will some day become quiltmakers. Yet though I can imagine living many different lives, this path I've wandered onto rewards me well, allowing me to work with mind and hands together, feeling fulfilled without ever being bored. I've arrived at a pretty sweet spot and can tell you what the rewards and trade-offs have been. When I began a journey to discover what my life's contributions could possibly be, there were books (Jean Ray Laury's Getting It All Together at Home, Anne Truitt's Daybook, Madeleine L'Engle's Circle of Quiet come to mind) which helped me think things through, even though I had to find my own answers. Now I can offer a chronicle of how an ordinary person with ordinary talents and foibles gets to live in an extraordinarily lucky way, making objects which I hope are more beautiful than ugly, which travel farther and wider than I ever could, and which in all probability will outlast me. It is a story told in words and in quilts, and while the quilts always have an element of line, the story is not so linear. It turns out that I have made quilts not to express myself, but to learn who I am. While making a living, I have made myself a life.