Call me the accidental quilter!
My professional career as a accountant/CPA started in 1980, but after 13 years, I grew bored with debits and credits and in 1994, opened a fabric store geared toward clothing construction - my passion at the time. In fact, I thought anyone who enjoyed cutting fabric into tiny pieces just to spend countless hours sewing them back together was crazy. But to keep my cutomers happy, the majority of which were quilters, I was forced to learn. So I hired a quilting intructor for the shop, took her class and much to my surprise, became hooked.
But like every new quilter, my skills needed to be honed and while learning to mix patterns and color, I made several costly inventory mistakes. Still, I refused to give up and soon began designing my own quilt patterns, most of which featured panels and theme prints. Then with the encouragement of one of my sales representatives, I contacted Martingale & Company and in 2000, Clever Quilts was born. What a ride that was!
Clever Quilts became an instant best seller and provided a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a guest on Alex Anderson's HGTV show, Simply Quilts. During the next four years, I authored four more quiltmaking titles (Clever Quilts Encore, Clever Quarters, Clever Quarters Too and Better by the Dozen), travelled and lectured. Then in 2006, after 12 years in business, I closed my shop, took a three-year sabbatical and wrote my first novel, Second Thoughts.
So what am I doing now?
I'd like to say I'm writing full time, but last summer, a job opportunity practically landed in my lap. I returned to work as an accountant in September. In my free time, I'm writing a second novel, which will feature a quilt artist as the main character.