Desire To Inspire: July 2014 Edition

The summer is flying by and it is that fun time of the month. We have been so impressed by all of our Desire To Inspire challengers since we started it. If you want to be a challenger, read below for the details. Many talented quilters, both beginners and advanced, have submitted a quilt to us. If you don't hear back from us right away, don't worry. We have all submissions on a list and we will get to your name as soon as a suitable spot comes up.

This month's challenger received a bundle of Mary Jane Carey's Tour Des Fleurs. [We have a giveaway going on for her latest collection, "Simply Christmas," in case you missed it. Here's the link to the post with the details.]

Let's see what our July 2014 Desire To Inspire Challenger made with this beautiful collection. Her name is Pamela Boatright and she's from Coos Bay, Oregon.

Tell Us About Your Family

Married for 34 years to my sweetheart - Perry, and we have 5 beautiful daughters - and 4 grandchildren!

How long have you been quilting?  

My mom helped me make my first quilt (tied comforter in a stacked brick pattern) when I was in high school - but I didn't start quilting seriously until 1986.  I always say that having 4 children under 5 years of age, I needed to have something to enjoy and work on that would stay done.  I've always loved sewing, but when I started quilting it was like a whole new world opened up to me!

What's your favorite technique?  

I love making miniatures - they are so cute! Plus they don't use a lot of fabric.  Strip piecing techniques are really fun as well.  

Who taught you how to quilt?  

My mom taught me how to sew at a very young age, but my quilting skills are mostly self taught. I've learned a lot from magazines and books, plus watching televisions shows such as Simply Quilts.        

Do you belong to any guilds?  

I am one of the founding members of my local quilt guild.  It's been wonderful to share and enjoy the company of fellow quilters.  I work one day a week at my local quilt shop - Threads That Bind and I also sell my finished quilts and patterns on Etsy and am team captain of a group of quilt makers on Etsy (Quiltsy Team)  We consider ourselves something of an online guild!

Anything else that you would like to share with our readers?

Working in the quilt shop has really encouraged me in my growth as a quilter.  I have made a variety of shop samples, taught some classes and discovered the joy of creating my own patterns.  I enjoy using EQ7 to come up with designs and find that being able to put the actual fabrics I am using into those designs helps me visualize the results easily.  Quilting really satisfies the creative urge for me and I love playing with fabric almost every day.  I also enjoy blogging about my projects - pamelaquilts.blogspot.com

Thanks again for choosing me to participate, I really enjoyed creating my challenge quilt!

Thanks for participating in our July 2014 challenge, Pamela. You did a fabulous job.

-hg