Brand Ambassador Intro- Charisma Horton

Our Third Brand Ambassador for 2020 is the amazingly talented Charisma Horton. Her eagerness, excitement, and skill is a great addition to our fabric family! Here's a note from Charisma to help you get to know her!

Hello! I am Charisma Horton. I am SUPER-DUPER excited to be a Michael Miller Ambassador for 2020.  I am a mom to 6. Only 1 is still left at home. I am married to “The Rob” and we are avid animal lovers. Currently, we have 4 dogs. As each child left home, we replaced them with a dog. Hehe. We prefer big dogs. I often say that I identify as a Mastiff owner. We have Gracie our 11-year-old English Mastiff. We have a 2-year-old Dogue De Bordeaux named Red, Kali our black lab and Elvis, the KING of pups. He is our Pomeranian who thinks he is the boss of everyone.   

My favorite part of the day is taking them for walks and I used to make them hot breakfast every day but one of the girls has to be on a diet. Poor girl. I know how she feels. 

I have been quilting for about 20 years. But wasn’t really dedicated while I had young kids at home. It wasn’t until they got a little older. But I have been an award-winning longarm quilter for about 10 years. I actually own 3 longarms. I have two regular machines and 1 Gammill with a Statler computer. Longarm quilting is my full time job. I love quilting. I love every quilt that comes across my frames. I have had quilts come to me from all over the world and that honestly humbles me. I am grateful for this opportunity to run my own business. In December of 2018, I decided to take the plunge and become a pattern designer. It’s been an amazing ride! My 2019 was a HUGE learning curve and a wild ride of learning everything from computer programs such as Adobe, learning how to back up & drive a trailer so I could have a booth at my first show and I am still struggling with photography. There are too many things to list. Just trust me! It’s been a doozey!  There is no way to tell you how much 2019 taught me. But I am ever so grateful. I had my first design published in a magazine in January of 2019. Since then I have had 3o+ publications picked up and I have had a few smaller projects picked up in a book to be published in 2020. I released 80+ patterns in 2019 and I am running full speed ahead in 2020.  Now I get to add “Ambassador” to my “street cred.”  A few samples of my work:  

I don’t have one style or genre of quilts. I have traditional, modern and wool applique and niche embroidery. I dabble in just about everything and I can’t just name one style that I absolutely love or hate. 

I really love quotes and any quilts with meaning or that tell a story. They are truly my favorite. If that’s a “Style” I would commit to any quilt with “meaning.” 

I am Scandinavian. Gnomes have captured me and I have several more ideas using gnomes. You may see some projects coming up this year. *hint* 

One thing you will probably always see in my work is color. I love to play with color. I love taking regular everyday quilt blocks and transforming them with color arrangement. I love all colors! But if I have to choose it’s always pink! I love everything about pink. “It’s my signature color!” (do you know what movie that is from?)   

Just like most every creative person, I have dabbled in many things. I scrapbooked while my kids were young. I am still part of a monthly handmade card club. I also go to a weekly pottery class. I have been doing that for several years. I am not an excellent potter. But it appeals to me in the same way that quilting does. I can create something beautiful that can also be useful. There is something much different about pottery. It doesn’t come as easy to me. I also never know what my end result will be. There are so many factors. I am always experimenting every step of the way. The end result is always a surprise. I actually like that I don’t have control over that.  

Food always seems to taste better in hand made pottery and served on a quilt. These placemats my daughter made several years ago when she was about 7 years old. I love Mexican food and I also love soup. This is a tortilla soup with fresh avocado chunks. This is a regular staple in my diet. Haha! Jalapenos are a staple on sandwiches, soup, pizza & burgers for me. I eat them in/on everything.  

I am so happy to be on the Michael Miller team! Thanks for giving me a few minutes to introduce myself. I am so honored to be here and share this time with all of you. I hope to inspire all of you with my designs while I am here. I know that I am inspired daily by the beautiful fabrics, colors, talented people that I am working with here and the kindness shared by all of you. So Thank you! I am looking forward to this journey.  

Blessings,  

Charisma 

Brand Ambassador Intro- Bea Lee

Our Second Brand Ambassador for 2020 is the incredible Bea Lee. Her love of fabric is infectious and we're so excited to have her on board.

Bea was born and raised in Denmark before moving to Florida in 1996 to attend college for computer animation. After graduating, she married and began her family. In 2004, Bea was introduced to quilting at a church class, but it took a few years for her to get hooked. Her passion took hold when she started making charity quilts and entering quilt shows. In 2009, Bea's husband bought her a longarm machine, and she began taking custom orders, she’s now on her 3rd machine that’s also computerized She also does machine embroidery. She, her husband, and their four children live in a small town in North Carolina. Bea has won numerous ribbons at county fairs, quilt shows, and guild shows, and she is also an avid blogger. www.beaquilter.com
        
She’s been published in numerous magazines; McCall’s, Fons and Porter, Quiltmaker and some booklets by Annie’s. She was an ambassador for Island Batik from 2014 to 2019 and is now an ambassador for Michael Miller Fabrics. Yay! She’s also a designer for Accuquilt and sells her patterns on her etsy store, her website and with Connecting threads.com                              

We asked her some fun questions to help you get to know her better!

1. How long have you been sewing/quilting? Since 2004
2. What other hobbies do you enjoy? What other hobbies are there?? I do machine embroidery and try to incorporate that into my quilting. My original “craft” was probably crocheting, which I taught myself when I was a child.
3. What was the biggest change in your life in 2019? In December I got my computerized long arm machine, I’m having SEW much fun with it! Personally, I think it was when my oldest got his driver’s license and he is now able to drop off and pick off one of his siblings from school! That’s a GREAT help, as my kids are at 3 different schools, plus a toddler at home.
4. What is your favorite food? I like the normal homemade dishes, but one thing I MISS from Denmark is Black Licorice! It’s black and strong and salty, not like this sweet twizzler stuff, the read Haribo black licorice is so strong that when you bite into it, you feel it in your ears like you do with lemon, then it’s GOOD STUFF! LOL
5. BLUE!What is your favorite color?
6. Do you have any pets? We now have 2 cats, one is a grey long haired cat from a shelter, his name is Swiffer (Swift Fur), the other cat Kronk, we got recently, from a friend who was moving, he’s a BIG black cat, weighing 20 lbs! he’s HUGE!! He’s like a black panther.                                                                                       

Be sure to follow her to see all the Michael Miller fun she'll be sharing!

Website: www.beaquilter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beaquilter/
Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/beaquilter
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/bealeequilter/

Brand Ambassodor Intro - Lisa & Laura

We are kicking off 2020 with a whole new batch of amazing Brand Ambassadors. We couldn't be more excited to have these amazing women on board with us and can't wait for you to see their amazing talents. Throughout the next month, we will be introducing each of the new ambassadors right here on our blog. 

First up is the incredible sister duo - Lisa & Lora. They have an undeniable passion for quilting. 

We are super thrilled and honored to be a part of the Michael Miller Ambassador team. Yep, we’re twins. I’m Lisa W. Norton, and my sister’s name is Lora W. Zmak. Together we’re a fun, dynamic quilting duo. Our scariest photo ever, last Halloween at the Houston Quilt Festival, we dressed as the Doublemint twins. I think we were more horrified than the Festival participants. We haven’t dressed alike since we were little – well, at least not on purpose!

Lora and I have been sewing since we were young, helping to sew our school clothes with our mother, Carolyn. But it wasn’t until 1999 that I decided to try quilting. With my neighbor Ingrid, I began a 30’s fabric block of the month program at my local quilt shop. Unknowingly, my sister Lora, living a 1000 miles away, decided to try quilting and began a 30’s fabric block of the month program with her friend, Inger. It’s a twin thing. We took to quilting like ducks to water. As artists, it wasn’t long before we were creating our own patterns and designs. Fast forward to 2012; we began Material Girlfriends Patterns.

After spending most of our adult life 1000 miles apart, a few years ago, Lora and her husband Kelly moved back to California and now reside in Clayton. Lora and Kelly have two beautiful daughters, one in Canada and one in Colorado. My husband, Michael, and I live in Discovery Bay, California. We have three handsome sons; two live in Discovery Bay, and one lives in Florida. Lora and I live just a half-hour from each other now, and we get together weekly for sewing and design fun. 

A significant change for me this year was our family moved from Livermore to Discovery Bay. The new location is on Willow Lake, but the house is a major fixer upper. Currently, our husbands have been rebuilding a decrepit screen room into a lovely Material Girlfriends Headquarters with a stunning view of the lake. I can’t wait for it to be done! 

On our favorites list: Italian food and Napa Valley wine. We both love our favorite photobombers, KC and Tucker. Lora’s cairn, Tucker, is a sweet old guy, and my “designer breed” (wink) KC is a spastic 10-year-old puppy. The dogs share a love/hate relationship. KC loves Tucker, and Tucker hates KC.

Besides quilting, we both enjoy home décor, remodeling, and road trips. Lora has a keen eye for photography. She spent this summer honing her skills, taking some beautiful shots of our quilts on our road trips. We drove up to Sisters Oregon for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt show in July. In October, we drove to Colorado for Lora’s daughter’s gorgeous wedding. After the Mountenous-Wedding-of-the-Century, we drove south to Houston for Quilt Market and Festival. Along the way, if Lora saw the “perfect place” for a quilt photoshoot, she’d slam on the brakes and whip the truck and trailer around for a photo-op with her iPhone. The wind didn’t always cooperate.

I mentioned earlier that we were both artists. I have a BS degree in Graphic Design and Illustration, and I do most of the design work for our patterns. Lora has a BS degree in Interior Design and Textiles and lends her skills to color and fabrics, finishing our quilts with incredible stitching with her long-arm machine. We joke that it takes the two of us to make one complete quilter.

Our love of quilting is contagious and we both eagerly share our passion with new and used quilters by blogging, teaching, and lecturing at quilt shops, guilds, and shows.

Be sure to follow them to see all Michael Miller goodness they'll be sharing!

Facebook: @materialgirlfriends13, lisa.norton.361, lora.zmak

Pinterest: materialgirlfriend, lisawnorton, lorazmak

Instagram: material_girlfriends, lisa.norton.351

Youtube: lisawnorton

Twitter: @heylisanorton

Blog: www.quiltpatternsdirect.com/blog/

Web page: www.MaterialGirlfriends.com

We're so excited to announce our 2020 Peek Into Batiks Monthly Quilt Along. Starting in January 2020, there will be 1 new block for all 12 months featuring our beautiful batiks. Stay tuned for more details. We can't wait to sew along with you!