Deb Boucher makes quilts.

She's also an artist, though she humbly denies it.

Boucher has a studio in Edgecomb, where she makes her own lovely, artful quilts, and puts the finishing touches on quilts for customers all over the United States.

Originally from Plymouth, Massachusetts, Boucher has lived in Edgecomb with her husband for 13 years.

Boucher uses an oversized long arm quilting machine that sells for $20,000 new. “I got it as a demo, so I saved some money on it,” she said.

She said she works from the front of the machine, doing what she calls a freestyle stitch, or from the back, using a template to sew a pre-drawn quilt design.

“I like working from the front most, using my imagination,” she said.

Boucher takes in parts of quilts from clients: the top, which has been designed and appliquéd; the back, which can be either a plain, single colored fabric; or another design, which makes the quilt reversible; and the “filler.” She then proceeds to attach all the parts, and work her art with a finished design of stitches.

Voila — a quilt!

Boucher said she got her start learning long arm quilt at Mariner's Compass Quilt shop in Bath. “They were very helpful to me when I started my business.”

Calling herself a “traditional” quilter, Boucher tends to use traditional colors and traditional patterns.

“But I've been using a lot of lime greens and blues lately,” she said. “I'm getting out of my comfort zone, and trying new colors.”

She said she puts her own quilts in line with her customers’ quilts. “I don't want to sell myself short. I want to be able to do my own as well.”

Boucher claims she has no talent when it comes to drawing. But her finesse in using her machine to stitch detailed designs like leaves, flowers and different shapes says otherwise.

“I shock myself. Believe it or not, I flunked art,” she said. “I couldn't draw to save my soul when I was a kid.” She said her ability comes from practice and “muscle memory.”

Boucher said she recently received pieces from Texas to be quilted.

“A woman found the pattern in Texas from a Maine quilt designer, Midcoast Cottage Design, then she got online and found On Board Fabrics, which displays Midcoast Cottage Design quilts. On Board gave her my name, and so I'm going to quilt it for her.

“It was serendipitous.”

Molly Hutchins of On Board Fabrics in Edgecomb has collaborated with Boucher on a quilt that is hanging in her shop. Hutchins designed it and Boucher quilted it. The pattern is of the state of Maine, with each county shape cut from a different fabric. The quilt placed second in an annual show called the Shop Hop, in which all quilting stores in Maine participate, according to Hutchins. It will be entered in the Maine Quilt Show in Augusta in July.

The quilter also finds time to keep her mother happy. She has been making table runners for her.

“I'm making one a month,” she said. “It gives her something to look forward to coming the mail every month.”

In Boucher's other life, she is the tax collector for the town of Edgecomb. She said she's done a lot of different things since moving to Edgecomb.

“I've cleaned horse barns; I've been a secretary and a cleaner for the Edgecomb church; I cleaned the post office for a while, and I've been a Head Start teacher.”

But she said quilting will be her retirement “gig.”

“I want to be able to just do this,” she said.

The Edgecomb Congregational Church is displaying two of Boucher's quilts in the vestry. It is a perfect place to display them, with the big, high, white walls. Her quilts may also be seen at On Board Fabrics, on Route 27 in Edgecomb, and at the Edgecomb Post Office.

Deb Boucher can be reached at 207-882-8402 or tearosequilting@gmail.com, and on the Tea Rose Quilting Facebook page. The studio is located at 92 Mill Road in Edgecomb.