I took formal quilting classes at Tennessee Quilts in the late 1990s, and joined the craft blogging trend of the early 2000s, made a few dozen artist trading cards, mini quilts, holiday ornaments, and enjoyed meeting others online via swaps. Made my first quilt in 2008 for my child. And mothering left me little time for creative endeavors.

Quilts and their making brings me joy. I slept under twin-sized ones my grandmothers made me. Today, I sleep under the quilt my great-grandmother Sukie Jane Tolley created for my father when he was born in the late 1940s; those mid-century fabrics mesmerize when insomnia plagues me. Nearly a decade ago my step-mother gave me an Around the World quilt top that her mother hand-cut into octagons & hand-pieced. Hand-quilting and extending its length and width to accommodate my queen bed was my gateway into quilting.

I was in SouthArts 2024 Emerging Traditional Artists Program whose funding allowed me to learn with Mary Ann and China Pettaway of Gee’s Bend Quilts (AL). I learned weaving, clay, sculpture, painting, and jewelry & metal smithing at East Tennessee State University where I studied with Gerald Edmundson, Lynn Whitehead, Jack Schrader, Jean Miller, David Logan, and others for my BS in Studio Art.

While occasionally I machine-quilt, hand-quilting is my preference.  I believe in slow-making as a radical act—counter to the fast, the easy, the disposable. This intentional choice is also an homage to my roots; my grandparents were resourceful, and their pride in making, fixing, and repurposing what they had serves as a guiding principle. Mamaw Tolley’s rag bag was the source of her quilts and I honor her legacy of sustainable practices by recycling my clothing, household linens, and seeking out the same from second-hand stores and estate sales for use in my work.

Log cabin quilt block is my favorite. I enjoy its ritual, predicability, and the stability that it bestows, however I value experimentation and openness to play. That process is a form of liberation; it disrupts rigid definitions of “finished” or “perfect” and instead celebrates the messiness, imperfection, and ongoing transformation of life itself.