I’ve been sewing since I was a small child. My first experience was with a tiny, hand-operated sewing machine. I used that child-sized machine to create doll clothes. By the time I was a teen I was making articles of clothing for myself.
In 1990 I attended my first quilting class. At that time acrylic templates were not available. Each pattern piece was either cut out using a paper or cardboard shape. Thankfully, however, the rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mats were invented. I’m not sure I would have survived the experience if I had had to use a scissors to cut my quilt pieces.
In 2014 I discovered free-form piecing through a book written by Rayna Gillman called Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts..
This technique opened up a whole new world. I was simply amazed by the concept of making something without a pattern.
In no time I was digging out my ugly quilts and cutting them apart to create new and better designs.

Even though all of my attempts were not successful I learned so much in the process. Opening that door freed me to explore new and exciting horizons. As of today I have completed well over 100 art pieces. You can find photos of some of them here.
I have many, many people to thank for teaching me the techniques involved in this expression of art. Here are a few of them (in no special order): Tierney Hogan, Rayna Gillman, Lisa Binkley, Pam Beal, Judy Perez, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Susan Carlson…to name a few. Each one of these women have played an important role in the development of my art as well as my character. To them I say,
Thank You
for giving me the push, the encouragement and the inspiration to pursue my love of fabric arts.
Thank you for visiting today. I’m so glad we had this opportunity. If you would like to contact me you may do so through one of the following avenues:
- Leave a comment on this post
- Leave a comment on my Facebook page or
- Send an email to cindy [at] inastitchquilting [dot] com

Welcome to the adventure! I hope you have the time of your life! ❤️
Thanks for sharing your story. I am a newbie quilter, and aspire to make free-form and hand painted quilts. I will check out Rayna Gillman’s book.