About me... I made an about me page.

I made an about me page for my blog. I thought it would also be a good update post on what is going on. It's a bit more detailed than more About me pages but I was really feeling it. Also it's not in the 3rd person. I am Sew Darn Cute Quilting no one else.

Sew here it is :)

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The big question "How long have you been quilting?"

I think it should be "How much do you love quilting?" LOL

I have been quilting since 2010. I just had my second son and needed something to think about besides dirty dishes, laundry and diapers. Recently my step mom had begun quilting and it looked like fun. I had been interested in quilting since I was in my 20's, but had very little success at being self taught. I thought you pieced the fabric together with a zig zag stitch while butting up 2 pieces of fabric together side by side. Eeek!!

In order to become a quilter I was in need of major help. So I asked my Step mom and she was very happy to help me. I came to her with my Singer that I had bought when I was in my 20's and we got it going, shockingly. It was a piece of junk. Then we picked out a simple pattern and the lessons began. I'm lucky because she is very organized and had a Quilting Binder labeled April's Quilting for me. It was filled with how to quilt and quilting tips. We picked a pattern and I bought some fabric from Walmart and made my oldest son a quilt. She walked me through each step along the way until it was complete.

Success!!! My 1st quilt was made.

A Quilter Was Born

Many quilts were made and on this journey I discovered Craftsy, and began learning as much as I possibly could. You could definitely say I was OBSESSED!!!

In 2012 I took a class by Cindy Needham "Design it Quilt it" It was amazing and filled with so much information from needles to thread to feathers, it blew my mind! I began making little quilt sandwiches and free motion quilting them. Free Motion Quilting was definitely my thing. I must have quilted over 100 of those little quilt sandwiches.

Here are a few

No really they were more like this.

Then one day I was checking out craigslist all things Quilty and guess what I found.

A King size Grace frame for $200. 👊

Then later came my Brother 1500. My favorite sewing machine EVER!!!

I put it on the frame and this is where Sew Darn Cute was born.

I have a blog post on how I improved my midarm frame to make it better in sew many ways.

It is my most popular post, so far.

"Midarm Like a Pro"

All was good! I even had a Client!!!

To this day she still sends me her quilts. She gives me free rein to quilt what I want and I love that she has had so much trust and faith in me since day one.

So, now I had a business? or  Maybe... a very good Hobby that paid for most of itself.

I wanted more. I was a stay at home mom, I had the time. Why not make some money???

What could be better than to make money and do what you love! 

The hunt began for the perfect Longarm for me. This was about the end of 2014.

At the next quilt show I tested all the Longarms and had an idea of what I wanted. My favorites were Innova, Gammill and A-1. Out of these 3, Gammill was the only one that had a local dealer. So off I went leaving the kids at home with my husband. I was on my way to Lindas Electric Quilters. The second you walk in all you see is thread on every wall and Longarms as far as you can see. HEAVEN!!!

The owner Diana came out to speak to me and she spent hours talking to me about which longarm would be best for me. She was amazing and made me feel right at home. Most people that sell longarms would take one look at me and see a 30 something and immediately not take me seriously.

After months of debating I finally decided to make the plunge. It just so happened that they had a recent upgrade and a lady traded in the exact machine I wanted. 

 

My Baby

Now, I had decided with every quilt that comes my way I will make it better that the last quilt. My goal was to become the best quilter I could be. I took online classes on iquilt from Judi Madsen. I watched all the Sharon Schamber videos on YouTube and many others.

I became and still am to this day

"OBSESSED WITH LONGARM QUILTING"

I began to have more customers. And all of a sudden I was quilting all the time and making money. I always had a client quilt. I had cards made and flyers. My quilting business (and yes it was a business) was blossoming. 

Outside of quilting some changes were happening and these changes were helping my family grow to become better. To not except what everyone else is doing as the norm. 1st we started homeschooling our kids, then we got chickens, my husband began to garden. Our idea of life was changing, we wanted more? No, we wanted less. Less traffic, less people, less expectations but definitely more land, more animals, a bigger garden and a simpler life. 

So we moved. 

2016

 Check out my blog post 

In search of a Simpler Life. Our Journey from the City to The Country.

We moved to Decatur, AR on 20 acres in the middle of nowhere. 

We renovated for 7 months straight.

My longarm was hidden in the garage under a big sheet of plastic surrounded by boxes. A sad time for quilting but an amazing time for renovating. I lost weight, we taught our kids how to help us and my husband and I worked together. 

Once things began to come together and our house became our home. I began to attend local quilt guilds. I came across a woman about the same age as myself and she was filled with the quilting passion too. Shortly after I meet her she asked if I would quilt a quilt for her. Of course I said, "YES". My longarm was still under plastic at this point. Also she needed the quilt ASAP to enter in a quilt show. I think it took me 12 days,

to get my garage/to be quilting studio in somewhat order and Custom quilt this quilt. This quilt was better than any other quilt I had quilted. Heck, I was amazed. I hadn't quilted in 7 months and I pulled it off. 

 Here is the blog post Colorway Quilt by Elizabeth Ray

We both won a ribbon!

This was so exciting which lead me to join 3 guilds and volunteering at all 3. Suddenly I found myself overwhelmed. Also at this time my mom (which came with us and lives in a mother in-law house connected to ours) was in the process of 5 different eye surgeries within 6 months. During this process most of her vision was lost. To say the least I was worn out and needed to drop something. So I dropped 2 of the night guilds and the volunteer work that was at the 2 guilds. Quilting new quilts was no longer an option. I had many quilts on my list and most of them were full custom. 

As I look back on all of this I have realized that we moved here for a simpler life.  It was time to have that simpler life, time to slow down. To look at what is important and for me I like the saying Faith, Family, Friends

in that order.

Which means more walks in the woods(closer to God), a big show quilt would be fun (creative and challenging), more homeschooling events(family) and some work in the garden (time with my husband).

What about my passion for longarm quilting?

It is still there and growing in many different directions. My passion to share my knowledge is growing. Besides becoming the President of the local Longarm Group (Up In Arms) I am starting to speak at guilds and teach other longarm quilters in their homes. I am also slowly learning how to make videos and edit them to share what I have learned along the way. Longarm Quilting drives me and keeps my mind turning which keeps me going strong.

I don't see myself ever letting go of it just changing direction from time to time. 

Some of you have asked if I am still quilting for the public?

Yes, I am but on a small scale and a long turn around.

If you send it I will quilt it!