When someone asks me how I learned to sew, there isn’t a second of hesitation. My Aunt Jan taught me everything I know. Our relationship first blossomed around cross stitch, which I would work into small ornaments on the bus as a wee first grader. She taught me the basics of cross stitch, knitting, macrame, and finally how to sew clothes. Before I was old enough to drive a car, she helped me get my first job at The Stitching Post in Dayton, Ohio (at the time, the largest dealer in the world of Husqvarna sewing machines and the only supplier of dress wear wools and linens in the region). Employees received a whopping 40% discount on all purchases, from machines to cabinets to fabric. My family was very supportive of my urge to make things, seeing sewing as a productive hobby that would ‘keep me out of trouble.’ Thus begins the story of my fabric stash and machines throughout the house! Somewhere along the line Jan and I both got into quilting, and things have never been the same since. (How my first two quilts met their demise is fodder for another post!)

These days, some 20 years later, Jan is still a prolific quilter who loves to piece, and I often quilt her quilts for her. (Because quilting makes the quilt!) As Angela Walters quips in her Craftsy class “Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety,” I do in fact love her enough to do detailed work! The pebbles, beaded swirls, clamshells, and feather flower meander featured in the quilt are inspired by Angela’s course. I appreciate her modern stippling techniques and can pebble for days!