Bio

Quiltville Custom Quilting
http://www.quiltville.com

Some Personal Tidbits.....

Update: June 2005

This page hasn't been updated in forever, and I think it is time to add an update here! We relocated to South Carolina 2 1/2 years go due to a transfer in Dave's job. We love it here! My machine quilting business continues to inspire me, but I have also decided to go back to school. I am currently attending Southeastern School of Neuromuscular and Massage Therapy to get my license! As much as I love quilting, it has a tendancy to be a bit isolating at times, and this will get me out with people more. I plan to continue machine quilting for the public, and get out doing massage therapy on the side! It has been an adventure going back to school after 25 years, and getting in the habit of studying and taking exams. Wow. Now I know why college is for the young! But I am loving it and thriving in it, and it has made my quilting time all that more valuable to me!

December 17, 2002

A round of re-introductions on a quilter's email list caused me to send in my contribution. So for those who are wondering about me....this short biography probably contains MORE than you want to know!

I was born January 23rd, 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I never knew any relatives that quilted, tho I found out much later, in the past few years, that great-grandmothers and great-aunts were quilters. I am blessed to own two quilts that were made by my father's grandmother/great grandmother that were pieced and appliqued in the 1920's to 1930's. And a partially completed trip around the world top that was pieced by my mother's aunt (grandmother's sister) in the 1930's.

I learned this year that not only did life still CONTINUE at 40....but 40 went all too fast and I'll be facing 41 in 3 weeks...BRING IT ON!!! I'M READY!

I am married to DH Dave...for 21 years. Yes, I was a 19 yr old child bride!

We have 2 sons, Jason 19...who graduated highschool, thought he had enough parenting, enough schooling and decided to strike out on his own and make his way in the world. So far so good....he is learning he needs some sort of continuing education to make much more than minimum wage....and he hasn't come home begging for money yet, is meeting all his own expenses, has a full time job with full benefits....The big challenge will come when we move to SC in a couple weeks and he stays in Texas without us. He is sharing house rent with some friends, but is looking to move in with a different friend and share a 2 bdrm apartment...thinks less people will be less chaos...(he's right! I found that out when he moved out! *hehe*)

My other son Jeff, will be 13 in January and is in the 7th grade....Both kids are ADD/ADHD, and while I won't use that as an excuse or crutch, it has added additional parenting challenges. We switched Jeff's meds to adderol in August and it has made a WORLD of difference this year. He is a happy, typical teenager, all of a sudden preoccupied with grooming (2 showers a day? you gotta be KIDDING! MY KID?! Who woulda thunk it!) basketball, dirt bikes, and has been found with the occassional note from ....*gasp*.....girls!

DH is 42, and is the accounting supervisor, plant controller for Pioneer Frozen Foods, SC.....The parent company is CH Guenther mills of San Antonio...so he will be making trips back to TX quite often...He is an avid bike rider, both mountain and road bikes and loves to compete in triathalons. He completed Ironman Canada a few years ago....I'm not sure HOW he did it, or if he will ever do it again. I think once is enough with that one!

I'm a Long Arm quilter in my spare time..*hehe* And I love it.....I wanted something that I could do to be a stay at home mom while raising my boys. The teen years......I guess I always thought that they would need me around LESS by then, but I found it the opposite. Kids with too much freedom with mom not around is not a good combination! They needed direction and someone to be there to assist with homework and keep them on the right track (ADHD kids.....especially) and I needed a job where I didn't come home at 5 or 6, still have to do all the cleaning, cooking, housework AFTER a full time job.....and this fell into my lap. It's fulfilled SO much....from allowing me to stay home and work my job around my family, to providing me a creative outlet that *I* needed, to building my self esteem, to giving me something to throw my frustrations into, to putting me in contact with the greatest people in the world...quilters....it's really been multifaceted....

It's also a job that I am able to take with me whenever my DH gets transfered....and this will be the 3rd move in 3 1/2 yrs.... :c/ I told him we are STAYING PUT this time....I want Jeff to be able to graduate from highschool before we move again. It's a dream anyway....and I know that if we HAD to...if for some reason DH lost his job and we HAD to move to gain employment...I would do it...but if at all possible..I'm ready to put down some roots, and ready to do it in Columbia, SC!

Prior to quilting for the public I was a pattern designer....I had a line of approx 70 dolls/stuffed animals that I designed under the name "Needle in a Haystack". Several of these were licensed through the Butterick Pattern Company......After several years of doing this I was burned out, frazzled to the core, felt like I had no time with my kids/family and frankly couldn't come up with anything NEW that didn't look like it had already been done before. This was when the market really started getting saturated by the 'made in china' handcrafted dolls and animals that you can get so cheap at walmart, etc.......the market was on a downturn as far as craftshows, made in america handcrafts were going....and that is when I decided to bail on the pattern end of things and put my heart back into my first love, quilting.

I have been quilting since I was a senior in highschool. I would have to say that I am a traditionalist when it comes to my quilts, tho I enjoy quilting all kinds of quilts, and some have been pretty wild! When I piece, I tend to go for strong geometric patterns with traditional names with high contrast in my color choices. I love antique quilts....Scrap quilts being my favorite. Quilts from the 1800's always catch my eye first.....to me they are timeless....I don't do many wall hangings...most of my quilts seem to be bed sized....I guess my rationalization is that I have SO MUCH FABRIC....bigger quilts use up more...*LOL*

Of course, at this rate I'll never run out of fabric, but I keep trying!

Bonnie *Ü*