Ticche & Bea was basically started in June 2004, when I spent my entire yearly teaching bonus on a Ferrari-esque sewing machine that would do everything but wash the dishes. During this summer I made embroidered pillows for all my friends and family. The pillows were a hit in my circle of friends, but the next fall when my first nephew was born, the real fun began. I made baby blankets. Not only was I a new aunt, but everyone and her sister seemed to spontaneously give birth, and I was sort of in business. Sort of.

You see, in my limited searching, I thought that no one was making attractive, washable, stylish baby blankets and pillows. I thought—this is it! My big idea. I will corner the market for Gen-X style baby blankets and pillows. Having limited resources and pulling from the same fabric sources, I soon found out there were even women who LOOKED like me making blankets that looked, well, exactly like mine.

I went to two tradeshows back to back, where I planned to sell my product. I thought—as soon as buyers see these super-gorgeous fabulous blankets I’ll probably need a barricade to keep them out of my booth. This, of course, was not the case. I decided then and there at that second trade show, that I would have to be the kind of person who copied everyone else, and maybe got some of the spill off sales from the big guys, or I could go in a completely different direction. That’s what I chose to do. Since then I’ve created the Memory Quilt Kit, the Baby Clothes Quilt Kit, and the Design-A-Doll. If it weren’t for these three products, I wouldn’t have a company.

We recently changed the company’s tag line to “The Craft of Making Memories,” and every new product I create will fall under this tag line. Though we’ve grown considerably since I started on my dining room table, I hope we’ll always be innovators. Most importantly, we want to teach the world to value the past, to appreciate the art of sewing, and to connect generations.