Biography

It's all Michelle's fault. Well, actually Patsy's and Michelle's, but mostly Michelle's. You see, I was leading a perfectly dull life in between hobbies when all of my sisters decided to have a reunion. Patsy and Michelle both brought the fruits of their labor, quilts and quilted items. That was The End Of Life As I Knew It.

The week after the reunion I began my first quilt, and I've never looked back. This was August 2005.

Now mind you, I know how to sew (I've sewn since I was knee-high to a grasshopper), and I've gone through a gazillion hobbies (stained glass, rubber stamping, book binding, jewelry making, cross stitch, etc.), so I shouldn't have been surprised that I'd finally be drawn to quilting.

The surprising thing was that I was drawn to doing hand piecing and hand quilting, and eventually hand appliqué. That's me taking the final stitches in my very first quilt, started in August, ended in October. It's a simple pattern I designed myself (because I didn't have the sense enough to find a real quilt pattern!), and it uses 12 printed images from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (another of my obsessions, but that's another Web site!).

It's my tendency to jump into any hobby with both feet, usually starting a project that is light years beyond beginner level. While I made a few quilts before I embarked on my Baltimore Album Quilt (BAQ), most people who make a BAQ have been quilting or appliquéing for years. Never one to be daunted, I set my mind to it and here I am.

Now why do I blame my sister-in-law Michelle most of all for getting me into this obsession? She's like a dope peddler supplying a junkie! When she learned that I had taken up quilting, she showed up on my doorstep with huge bins and boxes of fabric, supplies, and books—and she continues to mail supplies nearly every week! (Don't you all wish you had a wonderful sister-in-law like Michelle?) When I showed an interest in Baltimore Album Quilting, she sent me a great treasure: a vintage BAQ block (pictured at left). This block is one of my prized possessions now. I look at the front for inspiration, and at the back to encourage me. When I first saw the stitches on the back, I knew I was on the right track because my stitches look much the same.

Oh, yes, this is supposed to be a biography. Well, I'm Ruthann and I live in Belleville, Michigan (hence the title of this Web site, "Baltimore to Belleville"). I'm happily married to Ted (27 years this year!) and we have a wonderful son, Teddy, who is a teenager. Teddy has a good eye and selects which block to appliqué next, and what colors to use. He knows that eventually this will be his quilt, so he chooses with care. Teddy has two cats, Midi (a Russian blue) and Isis (a calico). They are my Official Quilting Monitors while I'm sewing. That's Midi, OQM at work! She does quite a good job, too. This particular block, "Belleville," wasn't turning out quit right. I ended up having to start over, removing the too-bright sky background.

When I'm not sewing, I work for a large global company developing corporate training. I used to make my living as a vocalist/guitarist, but now I sing only for the glory of God. I'm a devout Catholic and sing in my parish choir. I learned to cook fairly recently after discovering Alton Brown's show Good Eats on Food Network. (I never understood the science of cooking, and now it's clear to me thanks to Mr. Brown!)

I'm an avid reader and really enjoy mysteries, both hard copy and audiobook. Right now I'm in the middle of M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mystery series. My other two favorite authors at the moment are Michael Connelly and P.D. James. My greatest pleasure is to sit in my chair appliquéing, Official Quilting Monitor (cat) on lap, listening to a good mystery on my iPod.

Well, I guess that's enough about me!

If you'd like to comment on my journey, please drop me a line.