A Little Bit About Me (and a few of my friends)

You are probably wondering who this person is, with such strong opinions when it comes to quilting (and other things also!) and is not afraid to laugh at her mistakes, her environment and her life in general-

It has always been my belief that you are not born knowing everything there is to know about quilting due to some genetic tag. We may be predisposed to it through our artistic tendencies and our upbringing, but otherwise we must learn from our mistakes. We can read a book ten times and think we know how to do something, but until we try it we really don’t. This is why I use humor and examples to point out some common mistakes, and some uncommon, that can be made by the best quilter as well as the novice, and hopefully keep others from learning the hard way as I have. I also like to bring attention to certain subjects when the writing bug hits me.

As to my life, it is actually pretty great. I have a very supportive husband who doesn’t mind going to work with threads and clippings dangling from his clothes. He actually works at a psychiatric hospital so he can relate to addictions. I also have three children aged 20, 18 and 12 who are involved mainly with themselves at this point in time, leaving me free to pursue my ongoing interest in quilting, traveling to quilt shows, surfing quilting sites and volunteering in quilting activities. I am a member of the Sudbury & District Quilting and Stitchery Guild, the Canadian Quilters Association and the American Quilters Society.

My real job is as a tax accountant, which keeps me busy from February to May each year, but then lets me play the rest of the time.

From Fall 1998 to Spring 2001 I volunteered as the Newsletter Editor for our guild, with the help of my friend Valerie Letford as Graphic Artist. She did the hard work as I have learnt while trying to design this website. Many of the articles on this site were written for our guild members. Others were written for The Canadian Quilter, our CQA magazine. I gave up this position to take on a two year term as the Treasurer for the CQA, which was wonderful as I was able to attend the major conferences and meet quilters from across Canada. Throughout this time I also served as Treasurer for our guild show Quilts on the Rocks. I teach hand applique classes locally, as well as Income Tax for Quilt Professionals. I have also hooked up with a really great group of ladies- Three Stitches North- with whom I tag along to their quilt retreats in Killarney and learn from their mistakes and generally make a nuisance of myself taking photos! I have to say that quilters are some of the best people around.

I have even had the opportunity to judge quilts at a few shows, and I am an amateur quilt historian- though it is not a great career choice for someone who is losing memory cells quickly and can’t remember people’s names, much less the names of blocks, quilts and fabric sources. I come from a family that works with their hands- my grandmother was a quilter, my dad a finished carpenter and woodworker, my mother a tailor and seamstress. I played under the quilt frame as a child, and made my first quilt at age fifteen.

Though my website doesn’t have bells and whistles, it does have lots of photos and information. My writing style is not taught at journalism school but I tend to write what I think, which does stir up controversy sometimes. I don’t mean to offend anyone so I am sorry in advance. I hope you enjoy your surfing and welcome any comments and criticism.

Daintry