Quilting entered her life accidentally in 1996, and she means that literally. A vehicle accident and its results kept her off her feet for a long time. Six months into her recovery, she desperately wanted something practical to do with her time. Making a quilt seemed to be the most practical and manageable item she could think of and she had lots of hours to devote to hand quilting.

Sue explains, “Each of us begins our quilting journey by taking one step at a time. When I began quilting during that recovery time, I did not think about designing patterns. However this hobby turned business has been so very gratifying for me more than ten years now. It was with great excitement that I turned out my first quilt mystery pattern and heard from the quilters who enjoyed making it. Even from the beginning most of my mystery quilts tend to be quite detailed and I’ll always remember the response from one participant of the first mystery called Out on a Limb! This mystery happened to include a very lifelike Nuthatch and Chickadee. She wrote ‘I love my finished quilt. If I had seen a picture of it before I started I likely would not have made it. I would have thought it was beyond my skill level. Because it was given in small amounts I never felt overwhelmed and now I look on it with pride and say I made it.’”

“It is receiving wonderful responses from quilters that motivate me to keep designing. They inspire me to find themes I can depict through paper piecing that I feel they will enjoy making, and that will be different with each offering. I admit it can definitely be a challenge after all these years. Just when I feel I’ve reached a brick wall of creativity a word, a title of a book, or an image will pop into my head and I’m back to the drawing board and the computer with all the excitement of that very first pattern!”

“I love what I do, and am so thankful that even though one door may close, as it did for me through the vehicle accident, another opens that presents endless possibilities! My wish is for everyone to look for those possibilities and to enjoy the journey they will take you on.”

Sue explains that she cannot even follow a cooking recipe without changing it, so it naturally followed that she would play and make quilts of her own creation. When she was a child, she made doll clothes from everything, including socks and bits and pieces of trim from her mother’s sewing basket.

“My Barbie Doll had the most amazing and eclectic wardrobe you could ever imagine. I was sure I was going to grow up to be a fashion designer of great renown! However I became a floral designer instead, and owned my shop for 20 years. Every single day of those years I had the joy of creating and putting my own touch to each piece I made. I am sure that is the reason I was immediately drawn to the design aspect of quilting.”