This is the page where a 'proper' textile artist would explain how their latest series ( of 30 quilts, which they have worked on for the last eight years) was an exploration of the tail feathers on the Madagascan wood-pigeon and how their portfolio is inspired by the ecology of colonialism. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to have an artist's statement like that but the reality is that I still find it hard to call myself an artist at all and I certainly do not have the focus necessary to present you with such a statement without small children running behind me yelling' Liar, liar, pants on fire'.

So here is the truth: I am a lawyer by trade who discovered quilting in 2006 when my husband spotted an opportunity between my bouts of business travel. He presented me with a pile of garments off which buttons had fallen and requested that I sew them all on again. I sat there with the repetitive hand movements soothing my frenzied mind and thought, "You know, I almost feel like an Amish Woman sitting on a porch quilting'. Because I am actually nothing whatsoever like an Amish woman I googled 'Amish quilts' and fell down a rabbit hole into an amazing word of quilts. Somewhere in that world I took a left turn into embroidery and a right one into design and I fear I am now lost for life.

I  have just completed a City and Guilds Certificate in Patchwork in Quilting and am working on my embroidery certificate. This has ignited a passion for the design process and an inabilty to walk down the street without stopping to squint at a crack in the pavement or a tree bark and consider how it might be applied to textiles. I am certainly no expert and consider that I am still working my way towards finding my own distinctive style of work and trying out different techniques. However, I do now know for certain that everyone can design original work and I want to share everything I learn to give others confidence.

My development away from traditional quilts towards art quilting was jump started by an invitation to join the international art quilt group Twelve by Twelve. I found that my work in that group has been predominantly  inspired by stories, which is not suprising given my background as a writer.  I am fascinated by the art and traditional patterns of other cultures and love to use African fabrics especially those sold by Magie Relph at the web-based African Fabric Shop. I am based in Merseyside, United Kingdom

I am a member of the Surface Design Association.

2009