My passion for teaching and art was noticed at a very young age by my seamstress mother. I threaded my first needle before I was five. I collected every scrap of fabric from my mother's sewing room floor to use in making doll clothes. The interest extended to teaching my little sister and the neighborhood girls to sew for their dolls.

When choosing a major at Virginia Tech, these passions came into play. The Clothing and Textiles, and teacher education departments won me over.

My commitment to the fields of art and public education has brought many accolades. I'm most proud of Teacher of the Year for my Connecticut school district and a state finalist, and Connecticut Art Teacher of the Year and a national finalist.

Mission statement: “Create to inspire. Inspire to create.”

Creating is an innate curiosity in every person. It is my desire to nurture this creativity in each individual,  and inspire her/him to create.

I am excited to offer workshops and lectures for guilds and groups through the Zoom platform. Workshops are for all skill levels, and all work is done by hand. No machines required. Fabrics vary from kit to kit. Most kits will take a bit longer than class time.  Explanations and demonstrations are provided through on screen demos and video recordings.

Scarab Beetle: Raw-edge Appliqué

6 hour workshop

Raw-edge hand appliqué meets a Texas native in this interpretation of the 

Scarab Beetle! At 3” long, fused to a background, this project is definitely 

Texas size. Allow your inner child to come out and play while embellishing 

your stylistic beetle with beads, and embroidery stitches inspired the

beetle’s fabric. Clear demonstrations will guide the process. The beetle will

be assembled in the morning with the afternoon set aside for embellishment. 

Kits have high quality fabrics which varies from kit to kit.  Beetle will not be completed within the class.

Kit-$25

Say It with Words: Hand-Stitched Text for Quilters and Fiber Artists

3 or 6 hour workshop

Words are powerful! Words have the power to change lives, to remind us

 we're special, to inspire us to create, to heal and to bring a smile to a face.

Bring a meaningful word of your own, or select from the kit. The spacing and 

height consistency is explained, writing is practiced and word image is trans-

ferred to the fabric with stitch instruction in the morning. More stitches are 

introduced, and embroidery continues in the afternoon.

3 or 6 hour workshop

Punch needle is an ancient embroidery technique that makes a popping 

noise as a threaded needle passes through a taut cloth stretched over a lip-

locking hoop. Working from the backside of the design, this unique needle 

deposits a loop of thread on the underside of the fabric. These loops create 

the design. Punch needle is delightfully easy to learn; there's only one stitch,

but WOW, the results are spectacular!

Sassy Stripped Sampler-Make it Your Way

3 or 6 hour workshop

A fun, original, relaxing, satisfying, and perfectly portable modern sampler 

will be stitched. Before books, embroidery examples were stitched on linen,

 and the "sampler" became a personal reference. Stitch placement on the 

striped cloth is an individual choice. Floche, a 5 stranded, non-divisible 

embroidery thread will be used in mastering the 7-8 basic stitches. Happy stitching.

Kit:$20