About Susanna &
Quartz Hill Quilts

Quartz Hill Quilts

 

"I want freedom,
the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things."
–Emma Goldman, 1869–1940

Welcome to Quartz Hill Quilts

New house
the house where I live and work

Welcome to Quartz Hill Quilts. Here you see a picture of the home my husband and I had built and into which we recently moved. We sold our old home on Quartz Hill but I continue to use that for my web site. I have a wonderful studio in our new home and look forward to visitors. 

As for how I came to have a passion for quilting:   For years I worked part time as a carpenter after practicing nursing in local hospitals. I found the schedule to be difficult on family life, and as a self employed carpenter I had much more say about my schedule. Building our own home necessitated developing skills in this area, and we branched out building homes for others. By the time I was in my late 30s I became fascinated with acupuncture. I was still drawn to the healing arts, and I realized I did not want to be hauling 2x12 boards around when I was 50. My family and I moved to Santa Fe for 3 years while I studied acupuncture.

Susanna and Sally
Susanna and Sally

For 20 or so years what was my sewing studio was my acupuncture clinic. I have been “retired” from that practice for several years now, and during that time quilting has taken up what spare time I manage to carve out for myself. The arrival of local grandchildren, the older now 10, and the birth of twin granddaughters almost six years ago has pulled me away from quilting, but as they grow I  have more time to quilt. Quilting is much like carpentry, but a lot easier on the body!

Getting started

I learned to sew as a child, and went thru years of making clothes for myself that never seemed to turn out quite right. Yet I always had a passion for the bright prints and colors in fabric, and had quite a stash of fabric even before I made my first real quilt about 18 years ago. I was in the local fabric store, Thimble Pleasures, wondering about making a quilt for my other twin granddaughters (yes, 4 altogether!) when I fell in love with a quilt hanging on the wall in the shop. One of the fabrics had sweet little bluebirds in it. I was captured, and have been ever since. I took a class and off I went. I am very grateful to Julie Holbrook for creating such a nourishing, stimulating fabric shop just 25 minutes from my house . I have taken many classes there, although my learning continues just by being in the shop.

How I work

Currently I find myself drawn mostly to bed quilts or throws, yet find myself peripherally attracted to other kinds of fabric art. Perhaps one day I will get there, but for now I have dozens (hundreds?) of quilting projects in my head. Sometimes I have three going at one time. I am fortunate enough to have adequate space and light (windows on three sides of my studio) so I can spread out. Once I have patched the quilts together and made the backing, I hire someone else to quilt them together. I am not drawn to that part of the process and there are people in my area who have fancy expensive equipment that make the job unproblematic for me.

Purchasing quilts

Aside from my own quilts, and those I make for family and friends, I am willing to take on commissions as long as I love the fabric and design of any request that may come to me. The details can be worked out by phone or visits to my studio and to fabric shops.

The price of the quilts will vary. I factor in the cost of fabric, which generally runs about $12/yard. The cost of having them quilted can run as much as $250 per quilt (baby quilts are of course less). Some quilts may involve a lot of “fussy” cutting, which means cutting out a particular design or flower from a piece of fabric (see the Reflections quilt); this is very time consuming but is very rewarding. Some quilts involve more piecing than others, which runs up the hours as well. But, as for factoring in my time, well, it probably comes out to about $1.00 per hour!