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Kyra Reps - Quilting Tranquility Kyra's love for sewing started at a young age while she was in elementary school when she received her fir st Singer sewing machine. She then taught herself how to make clothing for her dolls and garments for herself without the use of store-bought patterns. As it does for most of us, life got busy th rough her teenage years and into early adulthood which left little time for her to pursue her love of sewing. In 1995 after her first son was born, her creativity was sparked by her love of all things Halloween and the desire to make costumes for her son that were as unique anq fun as hers. This love has grown over the years and has been used to create amazing costumes for all 5 of her children. Through this renewed love of sewing she started to dabble in creating piece quilt tops in her free time. She became fascinated by the idea that she could cut up perfectly good fabric into various shapes, and then sew them back together to make a completely new design! It should come as no surprise that she has been a right brained person since the day she was born. For most every design she's ever imagined, she's always figured out a way to make them come to life! In March of 2009, Kyra's middle son was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was just 6 years old. She spent many days, months, and years in the hospital with him while he was going through all his appointment and chemotherapy treatments. During this time when they spent countless hours in the hospital, she needed to find something to keep her hands and mind busy, so she started to hand sew. Through this emotionally difficult experience, she discovered her love of quilting again and started making quilts for everyone she knew. Then in 2014 she took a leap of faith, a deep breath, and turned her hobby into a business and opened Quilting Tranquility. In her studio she started sharing her love of paper piecing and applique by teaching beginner students in addition to designing and piecing one of a kind quilts for her clients. In 2015 she bought her first Long Arm machine, and this opened a whole new world for her! She quickly discovered that by playing with vibrant colored threads and yarns, she could bring her quilts to life with texture and dimension - the possibilities were endless! In 2017, Kyra discovered the APLIQUICK method for needle turned applique and she started making DOTS .... LOT's and LOT's of DOTS! She then started designing mandalas while using these dots. Kyra now teaches her Dot mandala designs using the APLIQUICK method and teaches the design process of making mandalas. In addition to this, she te ache s Dot painting and showcases how you can create a beautiful original mandala with DOTS. Kyra started out competing in local quilt shows and county fairs where she was awarded Grand Champion and Best of Show for every submission she entered. In 2017, Kyra once again took a leap of faith when she started submitting her work to national competitions. In these events, she has been a finalist at various AQS shows, MQX National shows, and her quilts have also been awarded Teacher Ribbons and earned Honorable Mentions. Kyra 's work has also been featured in quilting magazines plus she has brought to life custom quilts for her client's that they have submitted to quilt shows and won many blue ribbons. Kyra's award-winning quilt, 'SERENDIPITY', is currently a finalist at the International Quilt Festival in Houston's World of Beauty Show that takes place later this year in October. When Kyra is not quilting, creating, or dotting, she spends her time being a wife and a mother to her 5 children. She also enjoys spending time in her vast flower gardens which span across her 8-acre property .
