I started quilting in November 1998 as a sort of occupational therapy: I have fibromyalgia, which over time has limited my ability to get around and (worse, as far as I'm concerned) has affected my ability to discern spatial relationships.

I recalled the little colored block IQ tests of my youth and thought hey, here's a way to keep what I've got, not to mention keep what's left of my mind occupied. At first, half of the quilt squares I made were pieced backwards! But I persevered, if only to justify my obsession with beautiful fabrics.

Now there are just so many quilts one can use in the Deep South, and as we live in a microscopic cottage I finally decided I had to part with some of my work before somebody found me smothered under a mountain of quilts. To my astonishment, they sold very well at auction. Even more surprising to me was the email I received telling me how much my work was admired. As along with losing my memory I'd also lost my self-consciousness, maybe these correspondents were right: I was finally able to just enjoy the process of creation without critiquing my abilities stitch-by-stitch.

"Pachinko," shown here, is a commission from JoAnn Offutt, a woman up north whose appreciation for my quilts has gone a long way toward keeping me solvent, not to mention sane. Kumiko Sudo, a Japanese-American quilter, is my idol, and I tried to use what I learned from her work in juxtaposing seemingly unrelated fabrics and color combinations in a non-Western way. Here the pachinko balls spin down the brightly-lit game board, which is machine-quilted in metallic silver and gold; the fun of the game itself is as important as the results. (There's also a coin attached with embroidery for one more try.)

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