My site will be primarily focused on sewing. I started sewing before the age of 10, being taught by my mother. When I became old enough, I joined 4-H and continued to learn more. I entered my sewing projects in Dress Reviews and the county fairs. Being a rural community, the competition was limited and I won on a regular basis. This encouraged me to continue and gave me a creative outlet. While in high school, I made most of my clothes. My final project in Home Economics was my first quilt made entirely out of double knit. My high school graduation gift from my parents was a new sewing machine. I moved to the Dallas, Texas area to attend school, met my husband and still live here. We had two sons which I made pajamas and Halloween costumes for. They were Ewoks, Batman and Robin, Star Trek characters, and Ninja Turtles.
As money became short, I would custom sew for a few customers. When I wanted to work hard, I would take on a Pewee Football drill team. I would applique block letters on sweatshirts for high schools. As the years passed (and my husband was in the computer industry), I started admiring the embroidery machines coming on the market. I told him that when the sewing industry caught up with the computer industry, that I was going to purchase a new machine and digitizing software. That happened for me October of 1999. While enjoying the State Fair of Texas, I was introduced to my first Bernina sewing machine. That was a red letter day for me. I purchased a180E and V2 of the Artista software. I don't think I did any sewing for the next two years - just embroidery and digitizing. I began doing embroidery work for customers. I became so busy that I purchased a second machine, a 170E so I could double my productivity. This continued until my youngest son was finishing high school and I took a part time job at my Bernina dealer. This was not a good fit for me so after a year, I quit. Within two days, another dealer in town called and offered me a job. That was ten years ago now. December of 2012, I retired from teaching and have enjoyed almost unlimited sewing time. I currently own a170E, 200/730E, and an 830NG. I also own a Bernina serger, 2500DCET.
