Lisa has been sewing since childhood. She is a skilled embroiderer, took classes at Pratt Institute, and has participated in a number of other arts and crafts over the years. However, she got seriously interested in quilting in 1986, and that was that! She became a long-arm machine quilter in 1993.
In her own words; "I have always enjoyed sewing since I made my first doll clothes at the age of six. My older sister taught me to sew by hand, and although we didn't have patterns, we did have a lot of fun designing and stitching some unusual (and imperfect) doll clothes for our Ginny dolls. In junior high we made the required apron and skirt, and later in high school, I made long skirts for myself by hand with no pattern, and was thrilled to receive a sewing machine as a graduation present from my parents.
My grandfather, who worked for the Singer Sewing Company, taught me how to care for and maintain the machine. At the same time, I taught myself to do crewel embroidery, crochet, and later, knitting Aran sweaters. The only quilt I remember seeing was an Amish one that my parents bought in Pennsylvania. I never thought of making a quilt myself because it looked like it would take forever to cut out all those little pieces!
Then I saw directions for a baby quilt in a McCall's magazine, which seemed possible to make and finish in this lifetime. The patchwork part came out pretty well. However, the batting was lumpy, and after an unsuccessful attempt at hand quilting, I finally finished it off by sewing machine. Since then, I have hand quilted and later machine quilted hundreds. I am now using a Gammill Optimum long-arm quilting machine."
Lisa has studied with and been influenced by many noted designers and quilters including Linda Taylor, Marcia Stevens, Cathy Franks, Patti Hyder, and Ellen Anne Eddy, among others.
Her own unique style has since blossomed, and she has become noted for her lovely freehand work, particularly the things of nature - leaves, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, floral wreaths, etc., inspired by the beauty of her surroundings on the coast in the Pacific North-West.
Her own work and that of her clients has appeared and won top prizes in shows and exhibitions including: The Houston Quilt Show, The Road to California (Blue Ribbon for Excellence in Machine Quilting), the International Machine Quilters Showcase (Second for Themes), the San Diego Quilt Show, and the San Diego County Fair (Several Blue Ribbons), the NorthWest Quilters' Expo (Blue Ribbon), the Newport quilt show (a First and Second, and her clients garnered a number of others), and others nation-wide.
Lisa is a member of the International Machine Quilters Association. Her work has been commissioned and used by noted quilters, teachers, fiber artists, pattern designers, and authors, including Jan Krentz, Marilyn Fashbaugh, Peggy Martin, Gillian de Paolo and Ginnie Kelly.
Her work appears prominently featured in several books, among them: "Lone Stars and Beyond" and "Diamond Points and Beyond" both by noted quilt teacher Jan Krentz; "Setting Solutions" by Sharyn Craig, and "Quick-Strip Paper Piecing" by Peggy Martin. All are available from most quilt stores, the authors, or publisher, C&T Publishing She has also been featured in "On Track" Magazine, Marcia Stevens' Unlimited Possibilities, Designers' Quarters Magazine, and Quilt Sampler Magazine, among others.
In addition to her fiber art, Lisa is a talented musician, who sings and plays the guitar, and Irish fiddle. She plays folk music, (mainly Irish and Scottish traditional). She has played and recorded with several Celtic folk groups, as well as solo. Her music is available on CD for $10.
Lisa with her MQS 2000 award winning quilt, "Dressing up the Past"
