My earliest memory is sitting on the floor next to my Grandma Lela's armchair weaving a blunt needle with red thread through the holes in a crocheted doily while she darned one of my grandpa's socks. That was more than 53 years ago. I have graduated into more sophisticated sewing projects, but I have never lost my love for a needle pulling thread. I have been a quilter, an embroiderer, a weaver, a tailor, and a mender. Later, I realized that wire and sheet metal could be very much like sewing and I became a jeweler. I fell in love with beads and buttons, both of which required my beloved needle and thread. In the last 10 years, I realized that I wanted to design my own fabrics and threads, so I taught myself to dye fabric and yarns. Printing the fabric came next and my workshop was suddenly full of silk screens and carved lino blocks. All along the way I have taught other people to sew, quilt, embroider, bead, weave, felt, dye, print and carve. I am privileged to have had magazine articles published and been featured in art books. I have a large and growing family, including three grandchildren who are very comfortable making things with me in my sewing room. I hope that Grandma Lela approves.