The first spark of inspiration for Quilts for Sale actually had its origins years ago when Maria was in first grade. Her teacher read stories of the pioneers which told about the women who made quilts from their fabric scraps. She was intrigued, her imagination was kindled, and a lifelong interest and love of quilts was born. Eventually, she became the first and only quilter in her family.

At 13 years of age, Maria started working part time after school and on weekends as a cashier at the local supermarket. Each week she'd buy a copy of either Woman's Day Magazine or Family Circle Magazine and bring it home to her mother. (Can you believe that they only cost 5¢ each at the time? It's true!) Maria was particularly interested in the articles and pictures of quilts. Most often, the ones depicted were Baltimore Album quilts. Maria had learned to sew at the age of eleven in seventh grade and developed the incorrect thought that that these lovely quilts would always be far beyond her abilities and expertise.

Fast forward to 1985 when WNED TV, a PBS station from Buffalo, New York, aired the series, Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel. Maria excitedly watched each segment, took copious notes, and bought the book that went with the series. She was thrilled to discover that she, too, could actually learn to quilt! The only fabrics she had on hand were leftover pieces from sewing clothes for herself and her children and from making household items such as pillows, curtains, draperies, etc. Anxious to start immediately, she used those to make every block in the book and was thrilled and delighted with her new skill.

Fast forward again to the year 2000 when Maria found it challenging to choose a gift for her husband Michael's birthday. She finally came up with the idea of taking one of his water colours and reproducing it in needlepoint. The painting and the needlepoint now hang side by side on the wall. While looking through all of his art work to choose a painting, she suddenly realized that much of his work could become the basis of new quilt patterns, some just as they were and others with some slight changes. The idea for Maria Michaels Designs was then born.

Evergreen Water Colour

Evergreen in Cross Stitch

To create Maria Michaels Designs, Maria first had to learn to develop websites, which she did with the aid of several library books. Her web site was ready and online in January of 2002. You can read more about that on her Maria Michaels Designs websites. Since then, she has gone on to design web sites for others.

Fast forward one last time to 2005. Maria thought about all of the wonderfully talented quilters spread across Canada and the United States and the need for a place where quilt lovers and quilters could come together, the quilters to sell and the quilt lovers to delight in viewing almost 400 quilts and choosing the ones that warm their hearts. Quilts for Sale was born.