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     I grew up in Delaware, but at age 19, moved to Pennsylvania where I lived for the next 22 years. That's where I fell in love with the art of piecing and quilting, though in those early days, I wasn't very good at it.  Somewhere between my first and second child I decided to abandon all sewing projects, and gave (or attempted to give) my fabric away.  So much for that!  My best friend and quilting mentor decided quitting wasn't appropriate, and undertook the task of getting me hooked again.  I will be forever grateful to her for her patience and persistence! Quilts for my children soon led to quilts for charity raffles, and somewhere along in there I stumbled upon the internet world of quilters. It was those gals who hung the moniker "Squirrel" on me ... it later became "Desert Squirrel" when I moved to Arizona.  

     Participation in a year long project with one of the Quilt in a Day instructors (Loretta Smith) left me hungry for more "blocks of the month" ... and after some pouting from fellow swappers at the end of that project, I accepted the challenge of hosting a block of the month swap to keep us all together.  Over the years we've evolved from photocopied patterns mailed each month to swappers, and utter chaos, to the more streamlined Block of the Month group we now have on Yahoo. My co-host Margo took a class in web design, which now has our blocks of the month.  Check out our archived patterns, and current projects here . This year marks the 18th anniversary of having a web page!  Every time I've been ready to throw in the towel and quit, a quilter (newbie as well as experienced) will tell me "I tried something I've never done before, thank you", and I forget all about the frustration of orchestrating year long swaps ... and away we go again!   I live in Michigan now and hang out at the Sunshine Quilt Shop!  Margo and I can't meet at MacDonald's to open "squishies" together, but thanks to the internet, we still can stay connected.    

     I come from a long line of needlewomen, spinners, weavers, tatters, and more. But through this wonderful craft called quilting, rich in history and legend, I've met some incredible people, and have had some unbelievable experiences.  My life has truly been enriched.

     And of course, Squirrels have enriched it even more!!   I had the warm experience of raising an orphaned squirrel when I lived in Florida. My quilting buddies nicknamed me "Squirrely Mom", and the "Squirrel" part stuck. From Florida to AZ, I became the "Desert Squirrel", and when I moved to MI, the "Quilted Squirrel".  My squirrel was later released at the Sanford Park Zoo in Florida. Our Michigan squirrels are well fed and spoiled rotten here  in our yard!