Hi there! I am Susan Liimatta

Why I do what I do.

For over 20 years, I have been chasing my love affair with color, fabric and thread.

I began as a traditional quilter, hand quilting each piece, and today I create my quilts only by machine. I’m now using a computerized longarm quilting machine.

When I discovered machine quilting, I knew this was what I was meant to do. I was immediately fascinated by the dimensional quality you get from machine quilting; it’s like sculpting with fabric.

Over the years, I’ve built a career as an award-winning show quilter; and still, there’s nothing more gratifying than the sense of accomplishment I get from bringing a design to life.

I’ve always been a maker.

I started embroidering when I was nine. At age 10, I picked up the accordion. I made my own clothes in Junior High. When I was 11, I started gardening with my dad.

Gardening is like working with a pallet in three dimensions. Similar to quilting, it’s all about adding color and texture to create something unique. The plant photos scattered around my website are all taken from my gardens. You’ll also find me with a camera in hand — my phone. My photography Instagram page is a place where I post what I see in my travels, and around the U.P.

I’m also a Squarespace Web Designer. I absolutely love working in design to build websites. My niche is building websites for artists and entrepreneurs.

where do I live?

I live in the city of Marquette in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I love the north woods, all year round. My favorite thing to do here is hike in the warm months and cross country ski in the snowy months.

I love nature. So living in a city that is on the shore of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, is pretty cool.

garden design

Here are a few photos of my gardens. Being surrounded by art and color is very important to me. I have discovered that making a garden incorporating texture, line, unity, repetition, and color is very much like creating a quilt. I love color!