Ch ch ch ch changes

I'm at this odd, lovely, confusing juncture.

Usually it is New Years Day that gets me into this kind of philosophical mood, but I guess big life changing events can do it too.

I just got off the phone from my internet service provider, cancelling my domain for June 1. Threads in Motion will end...that day.

I've been going over the website info and photos, trying to decide what to keep and what to discard. I've had the shop for 7 years. During that time I've made and re-made the website several times (this last time with some help from a bona-fide web designer), written and re-written much of the content.

One thing that has stayed consistent since the beginning is my bio page - I'd just add to it as new things happened in my life. I love how it is written with a sense of adventure - that's what I get from it when I read it, anyway. Each of the things included was a thing of pride, of accomplishment, of risk taken and met. For those who do not know me personally, you might be surprised to learn that I'm quite conservative in my decision making and not a tremendous risk taker. I like to take calculated risks. Of course, in business, risks can only be so predictable...there are always surprises. I know I'm lucky, as most of my surprises have been good ones.

So here, for posterity, is my bio:

You asked for it...here's the story:
My husband and I were married in 1995, not long after moving to rural Nakusp, British Columbia.
Like most people, I got started on my quilting journey with a baby quilt. Knowing nothing about quilting, but being an avid sewer and crafter, I combined all kinds of fabrics (velvet, velour, quilting cottons…). That first quilt was usable, washable, (just barely) - a very textural sensation!
Instantly I was hooked. My insatiable appetite and tremendous love for quilting in all of its wonderful, diverse forms began then.
Sometime later I enrolled in a quilted pillow class put on through one of our local shops. Surprising, fun and informative, I learned what ‘buried points’ were (what? You can’t square a quilt block just by rotary cutting it to size?!*!!) and that rotary cut strips are not really supposed to be ‘V’ shaped!
While enrolled in this 3 session class I was working on several quilt projects at home—two large quilts and a baby quilt for our expected first child.
I found that class as a direct challenge to do better work. Although there have been many, many quilts between then and now, the personal challenge remains the same.
It was also during that time that I discovered free-motion machine quilting. I spent hours and hours ( and hours and hours) practicing, learning, knowing that I was only scratching the surface of this art form.
After several years, many quilts, a new house and the birth of our second child I was lucky enough to be asked to share these acquired skills at our (then new) local quilt shop. So, in 1999, I started teaching. What began with sharing machine quilting skills soon expanded to include beginner, advanced , and project based classes.
After a year of research, in 2001, I bought a professional quilting machine, and started working with other people on their quilts. This business has been continually challenging, interesting and inspiring. I feel very lucky to meet so many interesting people from so many different walks of life, and to collaborate with them on quilts that will be part of their own families histories.
In 2004, I started travelling with my teaching, and expanded my home-based shop and website to include fabric!
In January 2005 I started designing pantograph patterns under the name 'Threadsongs' as well as co-designing a line of patterns designed for domestic quilting systems called 'Homelines'. They are published and distributed by Willow Leaf Studio.
Fall 2006 finds me looking forward to seeing my name in print for the first time. One of my patterns will be featured in 'A Needle Pulling Thread' magazine's Festive Issue, coming out December 5. I was also lucky to be one of the contributors in a book called "Stitch Journeys: Your passport to Sewing with WonderFil Threads" to be released later this fall. I have been privileged to make 2 quilts for the WonderFil thread company sales booth and office in the past year.
As things continue, I look forward to all the new surprises that this career will bring...it seems there is always something new around the corner!



It's a funny spot to sit, looking forward and looking back. Our lives really are a continuum.

Thoughtfully, thankfully,

Lisa