Allison Rainboth was born and lived in Southern California until 1992, when she moved with her husband to Wisconsin. She learned to sew from the friendly ladies at the local Singer store when she was 10. After spending a week with them while her brother and mom went to day camp, Allison had sewed a gym bag, a doll blanket, and a pair of drawstring pants. She was hooked. Her mom let her sew on the Elna at home and she made costumes, stuffed animals, Christmas ornaments and other items. In middle school she sailed through Clothing class. Her final project was a Princess-seamed rayon georgette floral print long sleeved dress with white portrait collar and French cuffs. Unfortunately there was an accident with the scissors while hemming and she never wore it…but she got an “A”!
In college Allison and her roommates wanted matching comforters and curtains. It was a small step from making those to drawing out patchwork on graph paper. Her mom presented her with a rotary cutter and off she went! The first quilt she remembers making was a Trip Around the World for her brother’s first apartment. It was in solids, chocolate brown, navy blue, cream and rust…in pant-weight cotton kettlecloth which was the only solid cotton she could find. It was so heavy it probably squashed her brother, but he was never cold!