Who is Carol Morrissey?

Hello, my name is Carol Morrissey. I grew up in a house where art supplies and a sewing machine held the same elevated status. When I was seven years old, my mother enrolled me in oil painting lessons. I'm a fifth-generation (at least) quilter and I hope to pull my children and grandchildren into the quilt-making vortex. When I joined the Quilters Guild of Dallas, I was afraid I would embarrass myself with my work. My first quilt had 12 huge rectangles. My second quilt had over 700 half-square triangles. I was hooked. I began designing my own quilt patterns from the beginning, and before I knew it, I was teaching! And then I started my own pattern company! Who knew? A chance meeting with Marianne Fons resulted in my first magazine exposure (she asked me to design a paper-pieced jack-o-lantern).

I take photographs. A lot of them. So many, in fact, that my friends take photos of me TAKING photos. Need a photo of a snail? Moss? A dog in an art supply store? Got it.

I belonged to the Rock Club in junior high. Rock geek. Rocks as in gems and minerals and fossils, not rock 'n roll. And, yes, I still have my collection and I think about making quilts that look like slices of rocks.

I have hundreds of spools of thread, thousands of buttons, two longarm machines, and (AHEMMM!) several sewing machines. I also have a little bit of fabric, most of which I dyed. My husband often recognizes that faraway look and says to me, "You're thinking about a quilt, aren't you?"I see quilts everywhere in the world around me. I have always been afraid of using art supplies and "ruining" them.

My first quilt show ribbon was on a paper-pieced block of my dachshund, Roxanne, RIP. My first "cash" prize was at Katie Pasquini Masopust's Alegre Retreat in Santa Fe—a shopping spree from Lunn Fabrics. I was so excited I nearly cried. My most recent quilt-related thrill, which made my head swell just a smidgen: At the 2012 IQA show in Houston, Ricky Tims bought my Texas Horned Lizard, to display with his and Justin's horny toad collection, according to Justin. I can't think of a better home for that quilt.

I recently installed a zip line in my back yard. And yes, my friends and I play on it. Oh... and, of course, my grandkids get a turn every now and again.