I come from a family where many are crafters and the ladies have always made things with their hands, be it knitting or sewing.  My mother taught me to sew when I was young and I have never stopped since, be it dressmaking and tailoring or bagmaking and quilting.  Though at first quilting never seemed to make sense, – why take perfectly good material and cut it into tiny little pieces just to sew it all back together again.  Dressmaking and tailoring became the main pastimes with other needlework hobbies nipping in and out over time.

At 19 I became a servant to the public (Police Service) which I did for 30 yrs but continued my love of everything sewing related.  When I retired from this post I began work in a small fabric store which sold both dressmaking and quilting fabrics.  One of my tasks there was to make the samples for display in the store and I soon became hooked.  The quilting on them was basic and I wanted to do more, I wanted to create those beautiful feathers and ruler work, and so began my freemotion quilting journey. 

Leaving the store saw me buying a Handiquilter Avante and falling in love with both the machine and the freedom it gave me to express myself. I started my business Capricorn Quilting(.co.uk) in 2013 and shortly after in 2014 was asked to become the Educator for the UK HandiQuilter distributor. This is when I had the Pro-stitcher added to the Avante.  I love interacting with the students and seeing them have those ‘aha’ moments, and then progress and grow as a quilter, having confidence to try new techniques.   As well as having my own facebook page, I am admin for a dedicated facebook group called Longarm Learning Curve which was started to support UK and EU owners, but has now grown to included owners from across the world.  This means I can continue to see students grow and become more confident. 

I have been fortunate enough to have won and be placed in a number of competitions in the UK and in the World Quilts Show during this short time, and love the challenge of creating something different for each one. Although I have the pro-stitcher my heart will always be with freemotion hand-guided quilting.