Who We Are:
Meet Carrie Barone, owner of Peak to Prairie Quilting. Carrie has many passions in life but has been pursuing sewing and quilting arts since childhood. Taught to sew as a child by her talented mother, she quickly took off on her own, pursuing tailoring, heirloom sewing, and vintage reproduction clothing. Even though she did a little quilting as a teenager, it wasn’t until she was teaching Viking serger machine classes at a local quilt store that she officially got the quilting bug. Very soon she was working full time at the quilt shop and making samples on the side. Inspired by the local quilters she dreamed of owning her own long arm quilting machine.
How We Got Started:
While spending a summer working at Glacier National Park in northwest Montana, she came across a local quilt shop that also taught long arm classes. She extended her stay in Montana for another winter to work at the shop and learn from the owner. Her fate was sealed. 13 years later she still resides in northwest Montana. While she pursued quilting on and off over the years, including a 2+ year term working with Judy Niemeyer, it took until December of 2012 to realize her dream of owning her own Gammill Quilting machine equipped with a Statler Stitcher.
Carrie set up business in January of 2013 and pursued it part time while still maintaining a bartending position at a local Irish Pub. As her business has grown she has transitioned to full time quilting. She loves all of the different aspects of quilting from edge to edge to custom quilting. She loves working with her customers to find just the right feel for their quilt.
During her time working with Judy Niemeyer, she started playing with designing and digitizing quilting designs. She realized that there were a lot of people looking for ideas on how to quilt these beautiful quilts. While she enjoys designing for all different styles of quilts, she has found a market niche working on Quiltworx.com designs.
What Inspires Us
While quilting is one of Carrie's great loves, there are many more in her life. For years she has been developing a love for photography, painting, knitting, and yoga. She feels other endeavors often spark creativity and feed her quilting inspiration. During the summer months you can most often find her in her garden, hiking, on horseback, or puttering around the chicken coop. Living with her boyfriend Brandon who is part of Brash Rodeo and Livestock Co. gives her plenty of opportunity to participate in the agricultural world that she loves. While she works her quilting business full time, she still manages to work a couple days a week at a local stable that cares for rescued and retired horses. Last but not least, she is usually accompanied by her shadow and biggest fan Hank the cow dog.
