Over The Top Quilting regularly displays an artist’s work at our Studio. Rhonda Marshall is our current featured Artist. We are privileged to have Rhonda’s works at the Studio. Here’s Rhonda’s story.

Hello Quilter’s! I am a retired Accountant/Office Manager who has found a passion for quilting! I love everything about it; from browsing quilting stores and picking a pattern and fabric, to finishing the binding on the quilt and throwing it in the washing machine and dryer to see how it quilts up!!

I spent the first 8 years of my life in a small town in rural Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Amish country. When possible, our family would head out to “the farm,” where my grandmother had grown up with her six siblings. My grandmother’s sister, Emma, had a treadle sewing machine that she used proficiently. My cousin Amy and I were in awe! On my Aunt Clara’s farm, nearby, we would watch women gather around a huge quilting frame in the front room to hand quilt or make rope rugs, all the while talking and laughing among themselves. It always looked like such fun and undoubtedly was the source of my desire to quilt! But that was far into the future.

Now that my husband and I have retired and moved to Taylor, to be near our daughters and grandson and many other relatives who have migrated to the Austin and Dallas areas, I finally have time to devote to quilting. I looked at a bunch of different fabric stores in the Austin area and was thrilled to find Over the Top Quilting Studio! I was truly blown away the first time I walked into Over the Top and saw all the activity going on with quilts at various stages: people working at the many longarm machines, cutting tables, ironing boards, discussing design, quilting patterns, choosing thread for their project, etc. I had found my people!

After the first couple of years of quilting, I realized my sewing room was out of control! I had fabric, notions, patterns all over the place. So many projects started and hardly any finished! I needed to get organized! I purchased a Quilt Project Planner online and started recording all my various projects in their various stages. I then focused on recording all the information about what made up each quilt, along with pictures of the project. My book has since morphed into a sort of project/reference/scrapbook, which is informative, and fun to look through.

I was so thrilled when Susan and Chris asked me to be the featured artist for the month! Happy Quilting!