Katie and her husband Calvin were both teachers. Katie also had a fine singing voice, but little is known about her quilting skills, although it appears that she did sew. In June 1914 she and Calvin left 3 year-old Eula Mae on the farm in Licking, Missouri with Katie's mother, Marilla, while the couple went on a short trip to Springfield for Calvin to take a teaching exam. While there, Katie wrote back to Marilla that she had just purchased fabric for a new dress (at 9 ½ cents a yard!) and enclosed a swatch. (Postage: 2 cents).

Sadly, only 8 months later, Katie was lost to pneumonia, and Marilla took over raising Eula Mae.

Calvin remarried twice, first to Blanche, and eventually to Sadie. Little is known about Blanche, but Sadie lived until 1966. Sadie was also a quilter, as a letter to Eula Mae in 1933 from Papa Calvin says that "Sadie got her quilt done and it is very pretty." (We wish we knew which quilt that was!).

Carol's design "Katie's Garden" is named in honor of grandmother Katie.