Susie Simmons

Susie Simmons was raised in a creative and entrepreneurial home where she was encouraged to be creative and open to exploring new crafts.  Her parents participated in local art shows and gave her space in their booth to sell her “Make-It/Bake-It Stained glass pieces along with her handmade woven cotton potholders.  While attending the shows with her parents, Susie would demonstrate how to make the potholders and show the different potholder designs that she created.  Customers placed orders and Susie would make their custom orders while they shopped other vendors at these shows.   Fast forward 10 years later, Susie took her first basket making class, where she utilized her potholder experience in laying out the bases for her baskets.  She created her own basket designs in addition to dyeing the colored reed that she used in her baskets.  She also taught basket weaving to children in the local elementary schools, 4-H groups, girl scouts, boy scouts, and adults throughout the state of Indiana as well as serving on the executive board for the Indiana Basket Makers Association.


Susie was introduced to rug hooking 15 years ago and instantly became “hooked.”  Using her dyeing experience from her basket making days, dyeing wool was the next logical step.  There was a small learning curve for dyeing wool vs dyeing basket reed.  Ironically, they are both natural materials, but require different types of dyes.  Today she continues that entrepreneurial spirit while teaching and vending at different rug hooking events, fiber shows, quilt shows, and quilt shops throughout the Midwest and the southern regions of the United States.  Susie does custom dyeing for her customers and works with quilt shops to color plan and custom dye the wool to be used in wool applique kits.  She loves tips and tricks and shares a variety of them during class to make the project that you are working on easier.