Hi, I’m Merle Gilson and welcome to “Stitches & Ditches”.
Sewing related crafts have been my passion since I was a little girl. I started to learn hand sewing and embroidery when I was 6 years old and eventually I was sewing wedding dresses and ballgowns.
Later on in life I fell in love with making porcelain dolls and embellishing their dresses with lace, ribbons and detailed embroidery. With the introduction of embroidery machines I began making machine embroidered quilts, and soon after advanced to freehand quilting feathers, flowers, leaves and background fill patterns.
I love that a piece of fabric can with a touch of creativity become a beautiful, functional work of art. I prefer Bernina machines for quilting. I use a Bernina Q24 on a frame and a sit-down Bernina Q20.