To further my education and continue my life’s journey, I emigrated from the city of Szczecin, Poland, at the age of 24 to the United States. As a young child in Europe, I discovered my interest in not only collecting dolls but sewing clothes for them. This interest developed into designing wardrobes for myself and later for my two daughters. This hobby, borne out of necessity, matured into a lifestyle of working with my hands in the needle arts: knitting, embroidering, cross-stitching, and traditional rug hooking. As I became more proficient with needle and thread, my interests grew to quilts, where I directed my energies to designing and creating them. My natural instincts were stimulated and enhanced as I progressed with greater skills becoming more advanced in technique and developing a personal creative style. The work I produce is a personification of my lifetime of input.
I am inspired by the traditional quilts and hence all of my quilts are beautifully finished by Amish hand quilting. Scrappy quilts are comprised of many fabrics, personally hand-selected based upon fiber content, texture, color, pattern and size and by what is appealing to my senses. My professional associations and artistic collaborations began in 1990 with the Northern Star Quilting Guild of Somers, New York. My work has been exhibited many times at the Guild’s Annual Quilt Shows, and at several other venues. I was professionally employed for over twenty years with a civil engineering firm in Armonk, New York as a designer/draftsperson. I relocated to lovely Vero Beach, Florida, in January 2011, where I was inspired by the natural beauty of the surrounding land and sea. In the fall of 2014, I moved back to the New York area and enjoy every minute of being here. I enjoy the opportunity to share my quilt creations with you. – Barbara E. Glab