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Lara Nolan 
I started sewing when I was very young, watching my
grandmother. I was always fascinated by the colors and textures of fabrics and fibers. At different points
I've moved through crocheting, knitting, needlepoint, cross stitch, embroidery, smocking, quilting, and
every other form of fabric embellishment I could think of. I can't remember a point I wasn't interested in
art, but it wasn't a popular pasttime in high school. I was the only teenager (the only non
mother/grandmother, for that matter!) in my Victorian hand smocking class! I let it slide.In college, I eventually found my way into the drama department. I could combine my love of reading (theatre criticism) with my love of art (costume and set design) and I could get credit for it! What an amazing world. I loved pattern draping and watching the master dyer at the costume shop... Joan Morris is now quite famous for her shibori techniques, and it was a privilige to see her work.
On my own, I started first with quiltmaking, teaching classes in college and beyond. I started with
traditional fabrics, was blown away with the potential of the hand dyes and batiks that were just starting to
become available in the late 80s/early 90s, and started dyeing and batiking my own fabrics. I had a
paying job in graphic design ( Lori's note: Lara also designed the
Attachments logo) and got messy at night. When my daughter was born, I opted to stay home with
her, and intermixed my own work with lots of fingerpainting! When my son was born, Lori was
starting up this catalog, and was looking for artists to do some custom work... I started playing around
with combining my hand dyeing and applique. The born at home blankie was born! Since then, I've sold
different lines to several catalogs, and experimented with hand dyeing/painting silk and wool as well as
cottons. My daughter (now 8) helps fold/package many of the blankies, and my son (now 5) is generally playing in the studio while I'm working. Alex is working on her first quilt now, and I just helped Connor's class felt a wool rug for their school fundraising auction. Get 'em started early!!
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