Sheila Pye
I have always been interested in sewing and I taught sewing and craft to primary school children during the eighties.
It was also in the eighties that I became involved in the design of church banners and liturgical dresses. During this time, I received several commissions for this type of work which involved a great deal of satin stitch appliqué. I am told the banners I made are still hung in local Perth churches.
It was not until 1992 that I discovered Patchwork and Quilting and became hooked very quickly. I have made numerous quilts since that time in fact so many in the early days that I had to take up machine quilting in order to get my projects completed!
In 1995 I established my own business “That Heirloom Look” in which I specialized in designing quilts for clients and machine quilting orders for various people. As part of this business, I was involved in teaching freelance and have taught at several leading patchwork shops in the Perth metropolitan area. I also gave many machine quilting demonstrations at craft and quilt fairs during the time my business operated. I reluctantly closed this business in 2005 because of my husband’s ill health.
Since closing my business, I have continued to teach a limited number of workshops privately and on a voluntary basis.
Machine Quilting has become my passion and I now specialise in this area although I do teach a limited number of patchwork classes.
I continue to update my skills by attending workshops with local and interstate/international tutors when the opportunities arise. During Covid I have been updating my skills by enrolling in online classes where I can learn more about free motion machine quilting.
Traveling throughout Western Australia teaching quilters of all skill levels is one of the things I have enjoyed very much.
In 1996 I became an Accredited Teacher with the West Australian Quilters Association and an Accredited Judge in the year 2000
Pieces of Pye 