Joy Cannon

Let's see, where to start. The begining, I suppose. I grew up on a small farm. In fact, I still live on the farm. Although, it is not nearly as country as it used to be.

Quilting consumes me. I think about making quilts. I design them. I piece them. I make my living quilting them. Guess that makes me quilt obsesssed. I come by it honestly. Both of my grandmothers were quilters. My mother is an avid quilter. One of my earliest memories is laying under the quilting frame at my grandma's house. I remember laying there looking up at the underside of the quilt. The light was shining through the fabric layers. To me, it looked like a stained glass window. So, I fell in love with quilts at a young age.

Now, Mom had me hand sewing at a very young age. I don't really remember learning to sew. I would sneak into my mom's fabric stash and cut little corners off her fabric. I didn't know then that cutting corners off of folded fabric left holes in the middle of the fabric. Let me tell you, I was in big trouble.

When I was seventeen, I pieced my first quilt. It is a ribbon block. I found the pattern in one of Mom's books and decided to make it. Yes, using Mom's stash. By then I had learned not to cut holes in the middle and which fabrics were Mom's favorites. I made each block a different fabric combination just in case. That way I used just a little of each one. Anyway, she wasn't mad, in fact she was amazed.

When I was nineteen, I made Judy Martin's Broken Lone Star. It was an amazing accomplishment. It came about through a bet with my mom. I asked her, if I make this quilt, will you hand quilt it. She laughed and said, "If you can make that, I'll hand quilt it." Well, I had it pieced within a month's time and it still isn't finished being quilted. Perhaps, in the next twenty years, I'll get it finished.

I'm sure by now you are getting the idea. I'm a quilter. Currently, I'm even trying to make a living at it. I make t-shirt quilts and custom quilts. Mostly, I quilt for other quilters. I am a free motion quilter. I do pantographs, custom and heirloom quilting on a Tin Lizzie 18 long arm quilting machine. If you are interested in seeing my work take a look at the Quilting Gallery. If you are intersted in hiring me, send me an email.

Thanks for reading.