- In my younger years, I never projected that when I was this age, when I retired from teaching, that this would be what I would be doing, coming to my quilt studio every day.

But this is where my life and my experiences brought me.

And so I'm here, and for this moment, this is what I'm loving to do.

(tool clanking) I have four kids, and three of them were young at the same time.

They were born within a five-year span, so I was a pretty busy young mother, and I've always loved sewing, and creating, and crafting, and things like that, but there's not a lot of time when you have kids.

And then once my kids were in school, I went back to school and got my teaching degree.

And I taught in our local school district for about 13, 14 years.

And I had an opportunity literally fall in my lap to work on my doctorate degree.

I went from being a stay-at-home mom, to being a non-traditional college student, to being a teacher in the school district, to higher ed, being Dr. Hitchcock.

And that was my life.

Teaching is my passion.

It's still my passion today, even though now that role has shifted to where I'm teaching quilting.

You know, it's just that journey through life, of how you shift as you age, and people around you grow, and you grow in what you're doing.

(sewing machine clacking) You're golden.

Sounds good.

So this is my next act.

I'm taking all of my experiences from nurturing my own kids, to teaching young children, teaching adults in higher ed, and sharing that expertise in teaching, and using that expertise to really help other people that are interested in quilting and carrying on that art, to hopefully, it will become their passion as well, and a way for them to create and to add to their journey.

(gentle music)