I attended Oakland University. The campus also hosts Meadowbook Theater, a professional regional theater. I was hired to the electric crew for show transitions. One of thier productions was, “Quilters, the Musical.” As a sewist at the university costume shop, this production fascinated me. Being part of the Meadowbrook crew, I could pop in and see their shows any time I liked. But this was the only show that I went back to over-and-over, seeing it at least 20 times. The combination of beautiful music, interesting storytelling and intricate sewing of the quilts totally enchanted me.

As the saying goes, “The shoemaker’s children have no shoes.” I rarely sew for myself. But creating beautiful pieced quilts is something I always wanted to do. So when I have some rare time to sew my own projects, I most often turn to quilt piecing. I like detailed and intricate patterns and have done both traditional block quilting techniques as well as the artistic foundation paper piecing. This gallery shows some of my favorite quilt pieces.

In addition, I have been able to use the piecing techniques I learned for quilting on my costume designs. For example: In Shrek, the Dulac costumes all feature box pleated quilt border prints; In The Producers (misc. costume page) the Chrysler Building dress is entirely foundation pieced; the Wicked Witch’s elegant gown I made for “The Wizard of Oz,” (not pictured) was pieced in a stained glass quilt style, for an effect of shimmery dark irridescence, including a hidden tornado pieced into the skirt. I’ve been able to use quilt piecing techniques to improve my costume ornamentation and construction.