We are changing our business name!

August is my Birthday month,
​and this year I am giving myself
​a band new business name!!

"Thread Graffiti"

When I got my first sewing machine back in 2003 I knew absolutely nothing about sewing,fabric, patterns, designers and all the rest of the gadgets that went along with it! 
I made myself one very horrible quilt with that machine, and I didn't get it back out of the box again for a couple years.  I taught myself during a time before YouTube videos and social media, so it took me a long time to really develop my skills and enjoy the process.  
I grew up in the floral industry pretty much my entire life, my Mom did it when I was kid, then I worked as a floral designer all though high school and college as I earned my degree in interior design. I even owned my own flower shop for a while before I decided to move to Austin, Texas.  So, it didn't take long after the move for me to miss creating colorful things with my hands.  I realized I was kinda lost inside, I realized that I had spent all those years struggling to get my degree in design for a reason, it's just who I am!  So in 2005 I got that machine back out and started making a quilt for my niece.  She was just a little girl at the time, and I knew she wouldn't care what it looked like.  That quilt was also ugly, but I enjoyed making it!  I quickly made two more for my nephews too.  They were all just scrappy squares and I didn't know how to nest seams or iron correctly, all I did know, I had just fallen in love with colorful things again.  By then, I had become a new Mom, and I quit my job as a bookkeeper to be at home with our son full time.  I loved being a Mom, I loved teaching and playing, but my mind missed being an adult out in the world.  So I pushed myself to really learn to quilt, I got myself a good Juki sewing machine and I set up a room dedicated to quilting, and me.  I started making things for everyone, every holiday that came up I made handmade gifts!!  Everyone in my family got a quilt, I still wasn't good, but loved it!

I got a few more machines and kept making all kinds of handmade things....
I had an opportunity to put a few of my things in a local craft show, but was required to get a sales tax number to reserve the booth.  So my BFF Jody, and I spent days talking about  business names, we talked about old times in college and laughed at the stupid things we used to do.  I had gone though some hard times personally and Jody helped me heal my wounded soul.  I battled several forms of abuse back then, and she would remind me to live in the moment.  She helped me grow strong and appreciate each day that was good and learn from the bad ones and move past them.  It was then that I learned what
​Carpe Diem meant, and it was something I held onto daily! 
So naturally as we tossed around name options this came up, we decided to name our little crafty team Carpe Quiltin'.  We decided we would "Seize the day, and put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)", because we never intended for it to ever be anything but fun.

But, as the last 10 years have passed we HAVE grown a beautiful small business out of our love for fabric and quilts!  I am no longer a damaged 20 year old struggling to find myself.  We are both happily married, with great families, living in beautiful places filled with positivity and love, and we have decided that it's time for a new fresh name!  

"THREAD GRAFFITI"

We still make unique gifts, but we now have a new Handi Quilter Avante Long Arm Machine here in the studio and we offer full custom Long Arm Quilting!  Full custom means that we don't offer pantographs or digital designs, all the quilting I do here is custom free hand quilting guided by my two arms, years of practice, and a lotta love for art and design!  We are now Thread Graffiti, y'all!!
I currently quilt many of The Fat Quarter Shop quilts that are featured on their new pattern covers, blogs and books, but I also welcome new clients too!!  So, if you have a special quilt that needs more than just a digital quilting pattern, I would love to work with you.  Maybe you have a quilt that you want to enter into a quilt show, like the client quilt I did in the picture.  I hope that you will continue to follow my blog and grow with me!  As we transition you will be able to follow me using BOTH CarpeQuiltin.com and
Thread-Graffiti.com  and we are also still available on Facebook and Instagram too, you will just notice some name changes, but it's still me! :)
Much Love, 
Gina