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I'm a Tennessee transplant with a lifelong love for quilting, sewing, crocheting, and cross-stitching. When I'm not stitching away, you'll likely find me curled up with a good book, baking something sweet, or experimenting with my latest sourdough creation. I share my everyday life with two spirited dachshunds, a sassy tortoiseshell cat, and a wonderfully patient husband who supports all my creative adventures. I'm also a proud mom of three grown children and "Nana" to four precious grandchildren who are the joy of my life.
My love for sewing began over 50 years ago, thanks to my mother. She sewed all my clothes growing up, and when I took my first home economics class in middle school, I was instantly hooked. That spark never faded.
When I became a mom, I continued the tradition and sewed for my children, making everything from everyday clothes to a memorable prom dress for my eldest daughter (still my most challenging sewing project to date!).
Growing up, my Mom would pass her fabric scraps along to my Granny, who turned them into beautiful hand-stitched quilts. There were no longarm machines involved, just time, patience, and plenty of love stitched into every quilt. I was fascinated by her work, but it wasn't until 2021 that I finally completed my first quilt. I had made several attempts over the years, but somehow those projects never quite made it to the finish line.
That year, I dove headfirst into quilting and even invested in a longarm quilting machine so I could take my quilts from the first cut of fabric to the very last stitch. What started as a new adventure quickly became a passion, and before I knew it, I had more quilt projects than I knew what to do with!
In 2025, I set a personal goal to finish quilting every completed quilt top I had waiting in my collection. I'm happy to say that by the end of the year, I had accomplished exactly that! It was such a wonderful feeling to finally see those projects finished instead of waiting patiently for their turn on the longarm.
A New Chapter in 2026
Life has a way of bringing changes when we least expect them, and 2026 has certainly been a year of change for me. I sold my longarm quilting machine and my home, which also meant making some difficult decisions about my rather extensive fabric stash. If you're a quilter, you know just how hard it is to part with fabric you've collected over the years! I managed to downsize my collection by about half, although I'm pretty sure I still have enough fabric to keep me busy for quite some time.
Along with all that fabric, I had accumulated quite a collection of finished quilts over the years. My daughter, Christine, had been encouraging me for quite some time to start selling my quilts, but I had always hesitated. After all, when you spend countless hours choosing fabrics, piecing blocks, and stitching everything together, it's not always easy to imagine parting with something you've poured so much of yourself into.
But with the need to downsize and my daughter's continued encouragement, I finally decided to take the leap and open my Etsy shop! What started as a practical way to find new homes for some of my handmade quilts has turned into something truly rewarding. There's a special kind of joy in knowing that a quilt I created is now being loved and enjoyed in someone else's home. And I have to admit, my daughter might have been onto something all along!
While I no longer have my longarm machine, my love for quilting hasn't changed one bit. I've simply had to adjust how I approach finishing my quilts, whether that means quilting them on my domestic sewing machine or sending them to another talented longarm quilter.
I've also been spending more time exploring other sewing projects, especially handmade bags and smaller creations. Sometimes a change in circumstances opens the door to rediscovering other things we love, and I'm enjoying seeing where my creativity takes me.
Through it all, Sew Serenity Cottage remains my little corner of the world where I can share my quilting projects, sewing adventures, lessons learned, and the occasional project that doesn't go quite as planned. Because, let's face it, not every seam is perfect, and sometimes the seam ripper gets more attention than we'd like!
Thank you so much for stopping by and spending a little time with me. Whether you're an experienced quilter, just learning to sew, or simply looking for a little creative inspiration, I hope you find something here that encourages you to pick up a needle, try something new, or finish that project you've been putting off.
Welcome to Sew Serenity Cottage — Where Every Stitch Tells a Story.
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