Hi, I’m Melissa. I was making lovely patchwork quilt tops and found it really challenging to wrestle with them on a domestic machine. Life’s just too short for that! By 2015 I’d been hand guiding a longarm for a few years but I really got excited when I switched to a computerised system in 2019.
Primarily I’m a quilter. I went from industrial sewing… to patternmaking the old fashioned way… to domestic sewing… to quilting… to longarm freehand… to longarm computer guided… to CS7 Gammill software… to digitising software that translates to other formats… to more quilt pattern design… and here I am, offering my humble selection of lovingly crafted digital designs for you to stitch out on your own system.
I don’t have a favourite quilting “style” but I do like utility quilts for that cuddly feeling, so favour a softer, less dense look. I’ll happily oblige if denser quilting is your thing, though.
My piecing genre started with wanting to be as accurate as possible, and slowly drifted into improvisational work. I’ve taught improv piecing and won Best Modern Quilt at the Great New Zealand Quilt Show in 2023. I designed that quilting pattern myself!
I really enjoy seeing people get a sense of achievement and joy when they can take a finished quilt to show and tell, when it’s a special gift for a loved one, or completion of a well deserved “me” quilt.
