After years as a serial entrepreneur, Denise Russell has made her “avocation” into her “vocation” – she is a full-time pattern designer for Missouri Star Quilts. Who knew there were even such jobs out there? Denise began quilting in 2005 when she lived in Maryland. Her work life and home life were overwhelmingly male, so the quilt store in town offered the chance to be among women.  She decided to dust off her sewing machine and jump in. With an Eleanor Burns “Quilt in a Day” book, Denise became a quilter. In 2015, Denise decided to submit some of her

Bonnie Davidson began quilting in the early 2000s, when her mother came to visit and brought along a quilted placemat project. Well, the blocks for those placemats turned into Bonnie’s first quilt – a bed quilt with those blocks on point. Bonnie’s interest took off from there and by 2006, she was living in Minnesota amid lots of quilters and quilt shops. A job offer in Dubai for her husband, however, saw the Davidsons move from cool Minnesota to the United Arab Emirates, where the climate and the quilting community were completely different. As any quilter would, Bonnie set about

Sally Joerger’s sewing life took a turn towards quilting when her sister invited her to a quilting retreat and gave her some scraps to work with. Sally organized them by color and when her sister turned them into a quilt, Sally thought “I can do that!” – and a quilter was born. Sally was no stranger to sewing; she has made a living in costuming, fabric retailing, and teaching fashion design – and more recently sewing for Marti Michell and working with the Alliance Theatre in costuming. About 7 years ago, Sally decided that it would be fun to explore