About Me

Hello, my name is Merry Perkins and I love to quilt.  I love my husband of forty years, my 3 children and 4 grandchildren.  I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and believe in heaven.

I have a love of bright colors, traditional patterns (Kansas City Star), and batiks, Jinny Beyer, Riley Blake and Asian fabrics.  While I love to cut and piece, my favorite patterns invariably are paper pieced (read that as complicated).  I never hand quilt and only hand sew bindings which take several days to finish a quilt due to my RA.

I'm working this year on trying to make all my sewing more precise and spend time every day working on that.  I have been watching some DVDs and videos to ensure that the fundamentals are sound.  This includes the desire to machine quilt small and medium quilts on my Bernina sewing machine.

I learned to sew when I was young from my Aunt who was a professional.  I later took 4-H classes from a woman who taught Home EC and never, never let a person slide by on not matching plaids, making seams/hems correctly and insisted that any error be removed with a small seam ripper.  I am so good with seam rippers!

I have three beautiful and talented daughters for whom I used to make Halloween costumes, prom dresses, outfits for school plays and altered cheer leading and band outfits.  My sewing changed to quilting when the girls started off to college.  They each have several quilts in various styles, colors and patterns.  Each daughter is different and what they like is also different.  I've started thinking about quilts for my wonderful sons-in-law.

Who knew that grandchildren were all that and a bag of chips?  I now sew little things for my 3 grandsons and 1 granddaughter, pajamas, pillows, toys and small quilts.  First baby quilts and then twin sized ones when they out grew their cribs.  I periodically have to throw in a doll dress or diaper.

When I first got married my husband gave me a trunk and his grandmothers sewing machine the first Christmas.  He assumed that since the sewing machine folded into the cabinet, that it wouldn't be up all the time in the corner of our living room.  And he asked very sweetly if I could put all my sewing "stuff" in the trunk so he could quit stepping on pins.  When we moved to this house he built me a sewing space in the basement with lots of natural light and a door that closed.  He asked again, if I could please, please, please keep all my sewing stuff in the room.  The Lord knows I've tried!

Forty years later, he asks what I'm making and for whom while still wearing his shoes.  And I'm getting better at not having pins in any carpeted area except my sewing room.  Life is an adventure and so worth the journey when you can travel with a best friend.