About

FEES, PRACTICES, & POLICIES

Consultations must be done in person. You bring or ship your quilt(s) to me.

I am not able to provide bids nor estimates for the work to be done. Every project is unique. After we have looked at your project, we can discuss financial realities and boundaries.

A consultation is usually $25 per hour.

The charge for assessing several quilts at one appointment will be a per quilt charge, decided upon with my discretion.

I do not appraise quilts nor do I purchase them. I will be glad to make suggestions during a consultation, but I do not keep up with the market.

MY EXPERIENCE AND WHERE I WORK

I bring a lifetime of sewing experience to my present work with quilts and textiles. There was a summer basic sewing class in junior high, and an advanced tailoring class during high school that prepared me to sew for myself, my younger sister, and eventually for my mother. When I moved to my college campus, I was able to walk to an afternoon job with Neil Crockerill, a custom clothing designer on West End Avenue. From then on I sewed whenever I needed to, mostly for other people. Two daughters were raised, an Early Childhood Education degree was attained, and there was employment with two conservation framers and several museums and historic houses.

MY APPROACH

Nashville Quilt Repair is a small home-based studio with a one-on-one personal approach. To you this means that I am personally involved in all projects, that my 50-plus years of sewing skills and experience go into your project, and that I care about the quality of the work. I ask a lot of questions and I listen to your answers. Close attention is paid to what you want to do with your quilt or textile. I study the piece and determine what is feasible, given its condition, age, and materials. Together, you and I come up with a plan of action that serves you, the client, and preserves the integrity of the piece. Caring for your piece is a way of preserving its history, stories and value.

I am an historian, a student of works done by hand, and an educator. Every piece of hand-made work has stories, and seeking out these stories is interesting to me, and sometimes important to the value of your textile. There are many questions to be asked of a quilt, and the answers will begin to tell it's story. There is always a story behind who made it and who owned it. Some things we may never know, but there are details that are revealed in the cloth itself. As you collect information, your quilt or heirloom textile will develop more value, emotionally as well as financially. Here are the basic things that we want to know: How did you obtain this quilt? Who made it? Did you have a relationship with that person? What were the years of the maker's life? Where did she/he live? What time period was the quilt made? When did you acquire it? Who else owned/used it? What is the pattern called and how is it constructed? What is the fiber content? Was it sewn by hand or machine or both? If your quilt was a purchase, the seller may have some information about its make. Or at the least, you can find out where it originated (farm auction, estate sale, private seller). The answers to any of the above questions begin to make up the story of your quilt. Any repairs or restoration or re-construction will add to its story.

MY STUDIO

After living and working in Nashville, Tennessee most of my life, I lived in on a 20-acre farm in Williamson County, Tennessee. Recently (July 2024), I have re-located to a home/studio in Carthage, TN in Smith County, east of Nashville. I continue to work with antique quilts and textiles and look forward to having clients visit me here. After an appointment has been scheduled, I provide the address and directions to this location