Kim's Krafts

So this post is for a promo for Not Your Mama's Craft Market which is coming up May 4, 2013 in Marysville, Ohio at the Houston House. I will have a table and a tent outside where I will be selling my wares which will include some quilts, small zippered bags, as well as an opportunity to custom order something for yourself or a loved one! Be sure to look for my table! It will look a little something like this....

and I will be the one wearing this name tag...

I have been meaning to sit down sometime to tell everyone about myself, so I figure this is the motivation I need to do it. 

My humble beginnings began in the small town of Marysville, Ohio. Both my parents worked full-time and I have fond memories of playing in my Grandma's basement where she always had a quilt frame set up with a quilt in it that her and her sisters, as well as some friends, were working on. We used to lay under it and push it up with our feet as well as loosen and tighten the grips on it. There may have even been a stitch or two secretly sewn......but no one could ever prove that! My Aunt also watched us and she tried to get me going on embroidery at an early age. To this day, I just don't have the patience to sit down and do that! 

I was always a crafty person and mainly focused on scrapbooking throughout high school and college. I went to a small private college where I got my teaching degree. I then worked in the food industry while my husband finished up school. I had our son, he graduated a couple weeks later and 6 months later we moved to Nevada! 

Most people say, "Ohhhhh Nevada!!!!" I say "Ewwwww Nevada!!!" While I met many wonderful people there, the only season is brown and we forgot what rain was. The only good things was being able to look out our back window and see snow on the mountain tops almost all year round. While there I became a Stampin' Up consultant. 

About 2 years later we got out of the desert and headed to TX. Once here, I decided to get back into to teaching side of things and started the long and expensive process of becoming a certified teacher in TX. While doing this, I got out the sewing machine that had been sitting in my closet for years and had my mom show me how to use it. The first bag we made together was pretty sad looking. From there I started making table clothes and aprons. I made quite a few aprons! I even made some skirts for myself!

Eventually I started substitute teaching and the bag that I had been using to carry stuff in broke and I was trying to find a new when someone suggested that I make one. Well, I had never thought about this so I started researching and came across the blog of Sara Lawson. Let me tell you, this girl is awesome. In the 2 years that have been talking she has become a great friend and inspiration. She now has a wonderful store where she sells her custom made patterns. The bag of hers I made was The Naughty Secretary Bag. It was big enough to hold all my stuff and looked awesome. From this point on, I was hooked on bags and couldn't make enough. My husband once said that he didn't care how many bags I had as long as I made them myself....boy has he come to regret that!!!

Towards the end of our stay in TX I got into some paper piecing work as well as making quilt blocks and other random things. Then we move to Indiana. (Our final move!) Here I met some great quilting folks and visited some super cute shops. Sara needed me to throw together a quick quilt together for her for a sew a long she was hosting so I jumped right in and this quilt would be my first professionally long-armed quilt and I showed it at a local quilt show!! Definitely something I am proud of and it is displayed in my living room!

I love the blue background. This fabric is Amy Butler and the pattern is by Tula Pink who rocks my world with all she does and creates. 

So that's my story. Along the way I have become friends with some big names in the market and even done some work that will be featured in some books that are coming out in the near future!! (How stinking cool is that!!)

People always ask me what my "style" is. I find that it is hard to fit into the boundaries of a particular style. Someone once told me that they had figured out my style and that I didn't have one. At first I took this as an insult, but since that time I have learned to embrace "my" style and I think that my work shows it. I am not afraid to use bold colors or mix different prints and patterns. I do what I love and if you don't like it, that's fine, just respect the fact that a lot of love goes into each piece and that I enjoy what I am doing.

I have been asked a lot if I design my own work. I have done some and would love to do more. A major goal I have right now is to save up for some awesome quilting software that will help me create more and come up with some spectacular designs. 

Since we moved here I have been working at a little quilt shop and have begun substitute teaching again.....while trying to become certified here...don't get me started on the topic of Nation-wide teacher certification...
Part of me wants to teach while the other part of me wants to stay home and sew all day...which I do when I am not working. Someday I will decide....maybe....

Here is a sneak peek of some quilts that are going to be for sale at the Market....just a couple though!!

and I might have a few zippered bags adorning my table also!!

Well I hope you weren't too bored learning about me and what I do! Please be sure to check out the other great vendors that will be joining me at the show. Just check out the blog. And in case you forgot....

~Kim