Michelle started quilting in 2014
I live in a small town in Central Pennsylvania with my husband Chris. We have four kids and two grandkids.
I collected quilting books and subscribed to quilting magazines for 20+ years before I actually made a quilt. I had done garment work and had basic sewing skills, I collected all kinds of pretty fabric, and thumbed through those books and magazines with so much admiration and wonder. But I was always too scared to cut into any of that pretty fabric and do it all wrong.
In 2014 I found a shop hop called Row x Row. The projects were small, 9” x 36”. I figured that wasn’t a lot to mess up, so I jumped in and made my first row. I didn’t make the big quilt that the rows were supposed to make when put together. I made each row into its own little table runner. I was hooked.
I tackled a large bed sized quilt as a gift to my husband, and decided I wanted to say I had done it all from start to finish. I found a local quilt shop that gave classes and rented time on their longarm machine. Again I was hooked.
Since then I started working at that local quilt shop. I loangarm quilts, make quilts, and teach classes. I love what I do!
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As The Bobbin Turns
est 2023
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As The Bobbin Turns started out as a saying. Something my husband would say to me as I recounted my quilting dramas. We all have them. Sewing four blocks before you realize you are out of bobbin, playing a crazy game of thread roulette (can I get this all done before I run out?), or sewing a block into the quilt upside down or wrong side out.
My grandmother made me a quilt for Christmas when I was ten. The fabrics were all from her mother’s aprons and dresses. I loved that quilt. I remember as I grew up with that quilt on my bed, looking at the different fabrics she used, how she paired things together. I found fabrics that became my favorites, and of course there were blocks that also gained favorite status. Back then I couldn’t imagine where the love of that quilt was going to lead me.
As an adult I learned to sew. I made garments and costumes. I didn’t realize how much stress I felt doing that until I found quilting. It was a completely different world for me. I finally started my quilting journey and left garment work behind in 2014. I quickly became a fabric snob. I learned the difference in fabric quality between big chain stores and locally owned quilt shops. I fell in love with designers like Tula Pink and Kaffe Fassett with their bright beautiful prints. I found fabulous companies like Northcott, Tilda, Riley Blake, Free Spirit and Moda. So much fabric and so little time to make all the things! Things like table runners, and placemats, quilts of all sizes- baby quilts, throw size, twin size, full and queen size, and even a king size quilt now and then.
While every quilt I make was chosen because of a love of the pattern, or the fabric, or the techniques used; a little drama will inevitably be involved. So please, I invite you to enjoy looking through the quilts and projects here and know that I will continue to quilt As The Bobbin Turns…