Anna Maria Parry

Born in 1972, Anna Maria was raised in a house full of her dad's paintings and with a closet full of her mom's handiwork. Beds were warmed by the hand-loomed wool blankets from her Greek grandmother and she was kept warm by beautiful hand-knits from her American grandmother. Spending hours in fabric shops with her mom and sister on the weekend was as normal as designing her Barbie's first wardrobe using the family trunk of fabric scraps.

Anna Maria earned an honors BFA in Drawing from the University of Tennessee in 1995 before opening a small handmade clothing shop with her mom the same year. Designing and sewing a clothing label while managing a shop for five years primed her for a career in textiles and small business.

Multiple freelance partnerships followed her clothing label until her art was discovered by Donna Wilder, the founder of FreeSpirit fabrics. Her first collection debuted in 2005 and the process of designing fabrics that become quilts and other sewn projects marries her love of art making and sewing. Anna Maria has authored two sewing books, one embroidery book, and self publishes a continuing collection of sewing, quilting and needlework patterns.

Presenting her distinctively exuberant quilts and her self-taught process through lectures and workshops has taken her all over the world and keeps her passion for making alive.

Anna Maria is the mother of seven children and all of her big and little ideas have been sparked in the presence of her family. In 2021 they moved from their long time home in Nashville just a little southward to Historic Franklin. Restoring a Greek Revival cottage (ca.1900) with new life and layers of handcrafted love has included the building of her new home studio. And in the Summer of 2023 she became Anna Maria Parry, after marrying her partner Vince. She shares the imperfect adventures of art making, quilting, gardening, mothering, traveling and home improving @annamariahorner on Instagram.