Hi, I would like to introduce myself, my name is Michelle de Groot, I live in rural Victoria near Ballarat on a 70 acre hobby farm. I have a studio to work which is 14 x 6 mt in length and width.

I have been sewing since I was a child, all sorts of projects from latch hook rugs to tapestries and cross stitches. At school and at home I was taught how to sew clothing and make my own clothes from patterns and homemade patterns that my mother and I had changed to suit my height. Being 6 foot tall has its disadvantages when growing up.

Then I progressed to creating with flowers and art and crafts in my younger years by becoming a florist and business owner. I was very busy making wedding arrangements and bouquets formany years. This was a wonderful career but with marriage and a child I decided I needed something to keep my home a little more and less physically aggressive. While in town I saw a patchwork shop and walked in amazed at the lovely quilts on display and thought straight away, “I can do this”.  And I did.

I started like most people with the basics early on sewing my quilts together by hand piecing and hand quilting. I then progressed to machined sewing as I realised I wasn’t going to live long enough to make all the wonderful things I wanted to make.  After realising I had found a new love and addiction, I then wondered how I was going to quilt them; hadn’t tried that part of it at that point! So I started taking classes and practiced a lot at home and after 4 years of constant practice I began to quilt my own quilts, saving me a fortune! Once this was achieved, me being the forever wanting a challenge, I decided to try my hand at textile arts.   And WOW did I love that!

I then set about learning and learning and learning, making sure I didn’t miss anything, always striving to be better at what I was doing. Once I found myself at a point where I had found my niche, I then decided, after many people asking me to teach them to do what I did, that it was time to start teaching what I had learnt over many years. And here I am today, a textile artist, professional quilter, artist and tutor in my own right.