| About Us
Patchwork by Rhonda began about 9 years ago when a local gift shop began buying my "stuff". I had been making purses, billfolds, keychains, and other quilt items since 1980. I was bored at home with three small children so I taught myself to quilt from books and tv shows. By trial and errror and my mom's idea of quality over quantity I improved my quilting over the years.
I bought a crewel kit when I was 18 and taught myself to make french knots and other embroidery stitches. I was hooked!
Later I taught creative stitchery in home parties and learned a lot more! Like how to do the chicken scratch stitch!
My grandmother taught me how to crochet and I tried to learn to knit but I'm hopeless with knitting.
My daughter Sara was fascinated with rug hooking when she was a teenager but I found it too tedious for me.
When I started quilting I did it all by hand without any sewing machine. I made billfolds and purses and such. I challenged myself to see how small I could go and the smallest square I used was 3/4"
When I began to sell tho I had to learn to use the sewing machine so I don't go any smaller than an inch now.
My family knows better than to let me into a fabric shop unless they plan to be there awhile!!
I am obsessed with the color and pattern of fabrics. I just love it. It makes me feel so good to spend time looking at such beautiful things.
I spend most of my time quilting or thinking about quilting. I tend to see the world in geometrics. I get great ideas from everything I see.
As for my family - My husband Glen and I will celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary in January. We have:
My daughter Sara and her husband Ben have three children ages 5-7 & 9 and a black lab. My middle child Nathan and his wife Jill have four children ages 19 to 9. And my youngest child Glen and his wife Angie have twin boys who just turned 4 the day after Thanksgiving. We really enjoy them all. It's so much fun watching them grow up.
My daughter's son Zach has autism and we have learned a lot about autism in the last 7 years. He will be 7 in Jan.
I usually have grandkids most weekends and we ocassionally have Vicki (the black lab) come to visit and play with our two dogs Molly and Maggie.
As my husband is handicapped in a wheelchair most of the time we spend a lot of time going to the Veterans Hospital for doctor's visits.
A lot of people think because I don't work outside of my home that I don't have anything to do. But I am always working toward a deadline for Yoder's Antiques (who sell my products) and with my husbands needs and my grandchildren I keep pretty busy.
I am an only child and we live next to my mom who is a widow so I also need to be there when she needs me. I do keep busy!!
My mom used to be an Antique dealer and I guess it rubbed off because I like to collect primitives and 40's and 50's things. I collect a lot of collectibles like old can openers with advertising / chickens / 40's and 50's kitchenwares / old jars of all kinds. I have so many collections I can't begin to list them all!
We live in the same building my mom had her antique business in and my dad had an auto shop in it before that. We remodeled it into a home for my husband and me.
It seems only fitting to have antiques and collectibles as my decor!
My mom,my husband and I love to go to junk shops and Antique shops! It's so much fun to add to our collections!
Well....
Hope you have a great day today
Rhonda Woodsmall
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