Maria Bywater is the designer behind Huppahs.com, the leading national wedding chuppah rental company. She converted to Judaism in her mid-twenties. While living in North Africa, the Persian-Arab Gulf and London, she became inspired to explore Jewish tradition through needle crafts. Maria now lives in New York's Mid-Hudson Valley with her two daughters amid a large extended family. She writes about Judaism and sewing on her blog, Sew Jewish (sewjewish.com).