Be Fearless
That’s the motto that drives and inspires Dora Cary, owner and creator of Orange Dot Quilts.
Dora was born in Romania and studied to become first, an engineer and then a graphic designer. She moved to the United States in 2001 and discovered quilts and quilting in 2006. In 2008, Dora became an American citizen and finished her first quilt. She wrote her first pattern and opened her Orange Dot Quilts Etsy shop in 2013. Three years later, she decided to make quilting her life and her living. Today, Dora lives on the Central Coast of California, in Paso Robles, with her husband and daughter, two dogs, three cats, and four sewing machines. Aside from quilting, Dora loves to travel, dance, read, and learn new languages. Since quilting has become a full-time business, Dora has taken up guitar as her new hobby.
Dora created a No Baste method for quilting fearlessly and free on a domestic sewing machine. She started writing quilt patterns because she wanted to bring her own creative ideas to life. Being both an engineer and a designer prepared Dora well for both aspects of pattern design: the technical part and the art part. In her first year as a pattern designer, she created eight new patterns and placed them in her Etsy shop but Dora says her “real start in business happened when I participated in the 2016 Spring Quilt Market as a helper. Preparing for my presence at Market, I designed a beautiful brochure featuring my first eight patterns and, fearlessly, I approached all the distributors with the brochure in hand. Now my patterns are carried by all the main distributors in United States and one distributor in Canada. In addition, I decided to also represent my patterns at other quilt shows and festivals and also teach my quilting techniques and lecture.”
What does Dora like most about running her own business? “I like being my own boss, traveling, and meeting new people but what I LOVE the most about this business is creating new designs. I have several notebooks chock full of different quilt designs and new bag and garment concepts. I just need more time to bring them all to life.”
What can guests expect to find in the Orange Dot Quilts booth? Dora says that the booth will feature her patterns for quilts, bags and easy sewing garments. There will also be quilt and bag kits; quilting fabric precuts; medium weight cotton-linen blend Japanese fabric cuts in fun designs; her favorite fabric notions such as the African porcupine quills and The Strip Stick; Auriful thread in all shades of orange; hand knitted lace shawls; books; pincushion patterns, and more.
Road to California 2018 will be Dora’s first time at the show. She is looking forward to reaching a new audience, being inspired and also inspiring others. She said she has heard that “Road to California is a unique experience and I am looking forward to being a part of it.”
To learn more about Dora and Orange Dot Quilts, visit her Etsy Shop.
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Tags: Dora Cary, Etsy Shop, No Baste, Orange Dot Quilts, Quilt Patterns, The Strip Stick
