I made a simple nine-patch quilt for a friend while I was in high school, but I didn’t become a dedicated quilter until 1996. I didn’t know then that it would change the direction of my life, but I soon learned that it was impossible to make only ONE quilt! Now I belong to two quilt guilds. I have found that with every new opportunity to learn, there is also an opportunity to serve. I served as President of the Quilters’ Connection guild in Watertown, MA, and a four-year term on their Board of Directors. I volunteered as an assistant curator at the New England Quilt Museum. I founded and produced the five annual quilt shows to benefit the Thayer (Lancaster, MA) Memorial Library Building Fund from 2000-2004
I became a National Quilting Association Certified Judge in 2003 and served as the NQA Judges Certification Program Coordinator from 2008-2012 and again from 2015-2016. I co-authored the book Guide to Judged Quilt Shows. Upon learning that the NQA planned to dissolve as of December 31, 2015, I became a member of the four-person transition team to set-up and organize the new National Association of Certified Quilt Judges. I served as the Masterpiece Quilt Coordinator for the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges (www.NACQJ.com) from 2015-2017 with the mandate to recognize the very highest quality of work being done among today’s quiltmakers.
Becoming a judge was a natural extension of my geeky tendency to research and study. I feel strongly that a judge ought to have done most every technique that comes across her judging table. My judging philosophy is to recognize creativity and the appropriate skills to bring it to life. I hope to encourage all quiltmakers, and guide them toward the best possible choices to develop their ideas.
I am passionate about making my own original quilts, but consider traditional quilt scholarship important as well. I focus my own work on monoprinting (using an etching press and/or fabric marbling) as well as dye-painting and shibori techniques. Dyeing, painting, and printing plain white cloth simply fascinate me. More recently, I have recognized that collage, as well as watercolor and acrylic painting on paper offer the same opportunities. For me, they are all the same. Often, as I play with colors and shapes, an unexpected connection appears and tells me a story. I accept these gifts and nurture them with imagination, some patience, and craftsmanship. By featuring this new cloth in my quilts, personal stories are more authentically told.
“A work of art is the trace of a magnificent struggle.” Robert Henri