Secrets About Us

The story about us starts at an early age. As kids growing up in a small town not far from where we are now, we used Mother’s Singer treadle sewing machine to sew the many 4-H projects which earned us numerous ribbons at the surrounding county fairs, some at the state level and yes recognition at the national level.

4-H runs in our blood and this organization spurred on our individual competitiveness! We were taught to develop and grow in positive ways by becoming involved in community service, crafts, sewing, and yes even woodworking projects. All of which earned us recognition and many ribbons.

....The 4-H Motto is "To Make the Best Better."

The 4-H Creed is:

• I pledge my head to clearer thinking;
• I pledge my heart to greater loyalty;
• I pledge my hands to larger service, and
• I pledge my health to better living, for my Club, my Community, my Country and my World.

...this creed instills pride even today! The pledge serves as a reminder of what we value and want to achieve.

Being able to sew for our dolls was very, rewarding as we imitated Mother’s behavior of sewing for our large family.

It was always about us when it came to learning good skills to build on. We were taught to be open to trying our hand at new and unique ideas as all fabrics were recycled until they became a part of the batting for a quilt.

...no such thing as a throw-out! Not for fabric; not for food; nor for shoes or coats. Everything was usable.

Chronicle

At the age of 2 we thought ourselves to be a princess;

At the age of 15 we were sure we looked just like Cinderella;

At the age of 20 and now young ladies, albeit, sometimes fat, sometimes skinny, with straggly hair “Oh how awful!”

At the age of 30 we still see ourselves as too fat, too skinny, too short, too curly, or too straight. But we decide there isn’t enough time to fix all this and go out anyway.

At the age of 45 we see ourselves and think, “Finally I am me.” We go out without our fetishes, believing we our equal and can conquer the world;

At the age of 55 we see ourselves and our worth, our wisdom, our happiness and recognize our abilities. We go out and share.

At the age of 65 we put on our hat go out and tell the world that happiness is not the end of life; character is.

Don’t wait any longer; put on your bright red hat, be more mindful of opening your heart rather than your appearance, enjoy each moment, and go out and share them with others.

Advance Skills

Trying the most difficult patterns was always what intrigued us as that was how we were taught.

So making a pixel quilt was not scary at all. I used a photograph of the oldest building on the Ohio University campus that appeared on banners during the 250 year celebration of higher education in Ohio.

I broke the picture into small pixels...sort of like painting by numbers. The placement of the various shades and hues of fabric in return created a duplicate fabric image of the original picture.

Cutler Hall, which happens to be the oldest building on campus, also happens to be where I spent a few years as an undergraduate.

As a sewer first and a quilter second, I was elated to earn yet another ribbon for this work of art that was made by joining together 5,102 one and one-half-inch squares of fabric to form the image. Talk about using all scraps...no throw outs!

Alice, on the other hand, used the raw-edge applique technique to do the miniature quilt called E Pluribus Unum, Latin for "out of many, came one".

This is the motto for the United States and the one that we quilters have adopted! It earned her a ribbon too!

It is no longer necessary to make a special dress for the sweetheart dance; or drapes for our shared bedroom; or an apron to wear while learning to cook; or jar covers to make the cans of green beans look pretty while sitting on the pantry shelves. All about us will soon fade to about you as you too learn to quilt!

From the beginning it was about us advancing our sewing skills in order to share our ideas and knowledge with anyone that is interested in wanting to learn.

About Us - Introductions!

Meet my sister, Alice;

There is nothing about us that would give you a clue that we are sisters. With the exception that we are close in age ( 1-year apart) and always talked about retiring and returning to our roots of sewing for pleasure...much like it was as young adults. We planned right down to the last detail as to what kind of quilting machine we would own, what part of the quilting process each of us would assume, and tucked away our pennies to make all this happen.

Things did not go as planned...Alice's working career took her to several parts of the States and while she was in Detroit she lost her only son to a fatal train accident. To fill this terrible void she burried herself in work, moved a few more times and we didn't talk about quilting until a few years later.

She enjoys quilting for others and she generally digitizes unique, one-of-a-kind patterns. She applies her computer background and life experiences with today's technology, which allows her to share her quilting skills more abundantly using a computer and all the newest quilting software. There are many small pieces about us that forms the whole: from the early 40’s to now the technological advances has afforded us the privilege of experiencing what no other period up to now has had.

We were introduced to and grew with the desk top computer and boy has it been great!

Throughout life's journey we have seen many changes in the quilting world; the 30's and 40’s produced an abundant amount of beautiful cotton fabrics. Polyesters were introduced in the late 50’s and 60’s. By the way polyester got us away from having to iron blouses and skirts every day before going off to school. But, it nearly ruined the quilting world!

Then we witnessed fabric stores being replaced with quilting shops. There is a difference. We saw the return of fine cottons which are absolutely necessary for quilters.

It was the rotary cutter of the late 70’s that revolutionized the quilting world and we were fortunate enough to be a part of that phenomenal change.

I retired on schedule...after a scare with cancer (my third). I actually did put into play my earlier plans for quilting. I was all set to go with all the equipment purchased and in place.

However, my set back involved limited mobility in my legs and prevented me from standing for long hours at a time. Terry and I were rear-ended on a beautiful sunny afternoon when turning into our drive way from a shopping trip. The guy was a lunk-head...fell asleep!

I was heart sick that once again the entire well thought out plans would have to be put on hold or worst yet, maybe never happen.

If you read all the "About Us" comments you are right, I wasn't about to give up! I like sharing quilting tidbits either by writing about them or by helping you learn to quilt.

Quilting is doable for anyone that has an interest and I'm here to give you that needed support.

For a short time I was a teacher and then settled in as an accountant; but now, I'm a perpetual student at heart! I love quilting.

When anyone calls about quilting, we are open to adventure and available to talk. Our enthusiasm for new ideas is contagious. We keep an open mind and always ready to put on a pair of tennis shoes in order to walk around and look at all the exhibits at the next quilt show.

Retirement allows you to search out other opportunities in the field(s) that you love; and for us that is quilting. We know a few things to help get you started, too!

We are truly living in the “Golden Age of Quilting.” It is our collective quilting knowledge that we want to share with the world.

The unanswered questions remains; how will I ever be able to switch from doing the physical quilting to teaching others to quilt? How will we ever be able to build a web site that will allow us to share our love of quilting? Let me show you!

About Us Building a Web Page

I went on an all-out-search for finding an alternative for the "golden years"... after all I had a high-end quilting machine that needed to be paid for! I ran across a cute little turtle that preached the slow and easy technique for Building A Web Page!

I still had a good mind, I had a passion, I could work around my limitations, and Alice came along too! What could be better?

If you read all the "About Us" points, you have a fairly good idea of how the many exemplary traits that were instilled in us shaped our lives as we grew and matured.

From the beginning it was always about us advancing our sewing skills in order to share our ideas and knowledge with anyone that is interested in learning.

We are doing just that with the help of the Site Build It! turtle and their block by block teaching concept that allows you to achieve not only a web site but one that generates the necessary traffic to get recognized in this huge vacuum called the world wide web! Might earn a few bucks too! along the way...

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