ABOUT ME

I have a confession to make…I’m a quilt nut! And, I absolutely LOVE the smell of and rubbing my hands over crisp, fresh fabric on new bolts… I just can’t keep my hands off it!

My name is Sue Baddley and I come from a long line of quilters and dressmakers dating back from the mid-1700s from Pennsylvania and Ohio. I started sewing Barbie doll clothes when I was a little girl. My grandmother was the personal seamstress for Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren. My mom sewed all my clothes. So, I guess it's only fitting I followed in the "fabric footsteps." When I was about 12 years old, I found some scrap fabric my mom had tossed out and started to make myself a totally hand-made crazy quilt pillow. It was then that I knew I’d found something special. I guess you could say I was hooked from that point on! During college with money so tight, I used old jeans and scraps to make jean quilts.

Toward the end of college, I felt the desire to give service to people in need, so I took a break and worked in the Vietnamese and Laotian refugee camps in Hong Kong and doing Welfare Service work for my church for 18 months. When I returned home to the states, I met and married my husband. We’ve been happily married for many years. We have four children and the cutest little grandkids in the world! All of our children or their spouses are active duty military, of which we are very proud for their service.

In 1986 my husband’s military move took us to Hawaii and I fell in love with the art of Hawaiian quilting. Today, I am truly happy with my rotary cutter, mat, patterns, sewing machine, needles and thread. Of course, fabric shopping doesn’t hurt either! You could say I am a true quilt-a-holic, often sewing well into the early morning hours.

Amazingly enough to me, the first show I ever entered a few years ago took the “Best of Show” top prize! Since then I have won numerous quilt awards for my piecing and quilting techniques. It is something that I enjoy immensely. Every year I try my hand at a new technique to better my quilting and piecing skills.

Up until recently, I quilted all my quilts on my Bernina sewing machine, but it was a difficult chore, especially as those quilts became larger and larger. So, I decided to branch out into the world of Longarm quilting, which is the process of quilting the quilt using an industrial size machine to finish the completed quilt project. I purchased a pearlized ruby red Limited Edition Gammill Classic Plus machine topped off with a Statler Stitcher, the most sophisticated quilting system in the world. My machine I have fondly named “Ruby” after Dorothy’s ruby red slippers in the Wizard of Oz. My Ruby twinkles and shines just like those shoes. She’s quite a gem! I have quilted for people all over the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

Quilting brings me great happiness. I'm so happy for the opportunity to share my love and joy of quilting with you!

Quilty Hugs,