It was inevitable that I should become a quilter. Addictions of this magnitude tend to be familial, and boy have I been predisposed. I’ve got my mother to blame–she shared her sewing and design knowledge with me since I was a little girl. Thanks to her, I became a full-blown quilt addict by the time I was sixteen years old. Of all my mother’s talents, however, I was most impressed by her ability to incorporate a sense of magic into all aspects of life.

Now that I am grown, I find myself revisiting my childhood quite often as a source of inspiration. Back in 2010, I quit my job to stay at home with a new baby. After a few months of adjusting to my new role as mother, I became reacquainted with my sewing machine and decided to start a blog and pattern company called Lella Boutique. When I tried to come up with a business name, I kept thinking about a sweet pink toddler dress that my mom made for me to twirl around in. I called it my “Lella” dress–“Lella” being my way of saying “Cinderella” at that age. I could think of no sweeter emblem than that beloved dress to remind me to incorporate all of those wonderful childhood elements into my creative process.