I have been piecing and hand quilting since those long-ago days in high school. This was back in the day before cutting mats and rotary cutters. Cardboard templates were the tools I used to trace and cut my pieces for my quilts. And machine quilting??? Who had heard of that, let alone long-arm quilting? Boy has quilting come a long way! After working outside of my home for more than 25 years and raising 4 children alongside my husband, I was “forced” into retirement (i.e. I was laid off) which led me to this current venture. A close friend of mine who is an avid quilter, decided that she was going to do a crazy thing and buy The Calico House, in Placentia, California. Because I was busy working outside the home and raising 4 children, I didn’t have much time to quilt, but when I got laid off, I realized that I was able to get back into the hobby that I enjoyed many years ago. And since 2 of my kids were married and the other 2 were in college, there was not going to be a more opportune time to take advantage of earning a living doing what I love. After working on a Gammill Classic on a few of my own quilts, I realized that I needed to take the next step and invest in a Gammill Optimum Statler Stitcher. That was in 2010. In 2023 I decided to take the leap and invest in the Statler Ascend upgrade, which has proven to be a worthwhile investment. The accuracy and speed is far superior than any other long arm machine on the market.