I started making saddle pads for myself. As a dressage rider in the '80s and '90s, the pads you could buy were very boring: Black on white, white on black. I wanted more, so I began making my own. These turned out to be prototypes for the pads I make now. It was a 15 year process to get it just right.

My saddle pads have been in quilt shows, in the wearable art category.

My background: I learned a lot of design while quilting, had quilts in shows and won some prizes. I returned to the batik I learned in High School (and couldn't do at home back then because it was "messy") and developed my skill, entered some art shows and won some prizes. I tried primitive folk art dolls--another show, another prize. That was all fun.

My heart was always saddle pads and batik, and I had to combine those. That wasn't enough... add machine applique! Maybe some steam punk style. Always riding toward the next fence(or set of cones). When I am in my workshop, my whole heart becomes the saddle pad I am making. When you buy one, you buy a piece of my heart and my wish that it brings you some of the joy I felt while creating it.

Have a good ride,
Cara