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I have always loved fabric. I started sewing when I was four years old. At seven, I was sewing doll clothes on a miniature Singer sewing machine. I took sewing in 4-H, high school and college. Quilting entered my life while I was a District Manager for JoAnn Fabrics - that's about 30 years ago. I taught "Quilt In A Day" demonstrations in my district and learned how to quilt from books. Along the way, I honed my quilting expertise by taking classes from local and national quilting teachers. Off and on over the years I have also painted. Right now I am painting in watercolors. Because of my artistic inclinations, one of my specialties is machine drawing. I create a realistic picture from photos and make a quilt from my subject. I do this by cutting out and fusing pieces of fabric unto a base cloth. Then I "free motion" stitch around all the pieces. Finally, I sandwich batting and backing fabric behind my picture and machine quilt the three layers together. I do machine drawings of flowers, lighthouses, fish, animals, houses and landscapes. The compliment I hear the most is "you certainly can put colors together." I love color. Since I make wall hangings out of photos I take, most of my subjects are their natural color, but I tend to lean to the cool side of a palette. Greens, aquas, blues, and purples are usually used as borders and bindings. I do try to make a brown hanging once in a while just for a challenge. Silk Ribbon Embroidery is a Victorian art that comes and goes. I've embroidered all my life so the first time I saw the silk ribbon work; I knew I had to do it. I put bugs and butterflies in my work. I have made up a kit so other quilters can do this too. Quilts 'n Stuff by Glenna is located in a 'turn of the century' house on 14th Street in Escanaba, Michigan. My husband is a Private Investigator and Claims Adjuster - and my computer expert. We both work out of our home and watch each other's business when one of us is "out of the office." In my shop I carry art quilts, pillows, accessories, pins and notecards of my work. I also have quilting fabric (lots of batiks), hand dyed: silk ribbon, thread and wool. And of course I have my newest invention, the "perfect miter binding by Glenna" tool (to help with getting nice flat mitered corners on your bindings). I have a catalog of my patterns on the Internet at http://www.quiltsnstuff.net. My e-mail address is garkens@quiltsnstuff.net. |
Glenna Arkens |