COUNTRY PLEASURES

From childhood I have always loved working with textiles. I trained as a Home Economics teacher specialising in Textiles, Art and Design. After teaching in High Schools for twenty three years, I retired in 1995 to develop my particular interest in hand appliqué in the Baltimore Album Quilt tradition. Since then ‘retirement’ has been busier than the original day job as the demand for classes and workshops has grown and new techniques and designs have been developed. enjoy meeting so many students during my travels in the UK and USA. It's very rewarding when new students come into a workshop and having looked at examples of quilts say ‘I’ll never be able to do that’ and then by the end of the first session find that they can do it and go on to make their first appliqué quilt. In 2000 my first pattern range was launched under the title Country Pleasures and followed on from my earlier designs that had been produced for students’ use in my workshops

I find inspiration for my designs in the plants, flowers and wildlife that surrounds my home – a five hundred year old cottage with a large garden (and three cats!) in the heart of the English countryside.

I particularly like adding dimensional flowers and features to my designs and it is this feature which appeals to many of my students. The first series of patterns which made up The Garden Quilt proved so popular both in the UK and the USA that I produced another eight patterns on a seasonal theme. These I put together in the large quilt 'Country Pleasures'. Both these quilts can be seen in Gallery. The designs vary in complexity. If you are a beginner a good starting point would be the 'Apples and Pears', 'Rosa Rugosa' or 'Courtyard 'Birds' patterns (See Patterns)