NQA Member Spotlight

A Quinquagenarian's Quilt Quest -
Five Decades of Quilting

I love all aspects of quilting. I especially appreciate learning or figuring out new techniques or ideas. My membership in two NQA chapter guilds (Village Squares Quilters and Northern Star Quilters) has given me many opportunities to learn, grow and share my love of quilting. I was the Village Squares Quilters President from 2007-2008 after being Vice President/Program Chair for 2005-2006.

My fabric addiction started at a very young age when my mother took me to a fabric sale at J.C. Penney early one Saturday morning. I must have been around eight or nine years old. I remember standing outside surrounded by fabric-crazed women. As the doors opened I was pushed with the crowd and caught in the frenzy of fighting for what you wanted. I found this cute yellow lamb fabric and pulled it off the table piled high with bolts. I held on for dear life protecting it from the ladies that were trying to take it away from me. My Mom, to the great displeasure of the other ladies, bought the entire bolt. Over the years, my mom made a lot of baby quilts from this fabric. It even appeared in the quilt she made me to take to college. And of course she made me a baby quilt from this fabric for my first baby. I still have that quilt in its "well-loved" condition. While clearing out the cupboards in my mother’s sewing room after she passed we found yet another baby quilt from this lamb fabric. Needless to say, that baby quilt jumped into my suitcase and now travels with me when I have the opportunity of sharing my quilting legacy with quilt guilds.

Quilting became my passion around 2000 and I consider this the beginning of my journey as a "real" quilter. However, when you ask me “How long have you been quilting?” I scratch my head and get nervous. I cannot remember when quilting was not a part of my life. As a young girl, I played under the quilting frames while my mother and ladies from the neighborhood spent hours hand quilting and visiting endlessly. My quilting roots reach back to my great grandmother and forward to my own two daughters and through them to my five-year-old granddaughter, who made me a quilt for my 50th birthday. I am honored to have Six Generations of Quilts in my home.

At the suggestion of my oldest daughter, my 50th birthday party turned into a perfect excuse to hang my quilts and invite everyone to come to see them. Why wait for my funeral to display my quilts? This way I'd even be able to enjoy the celebration and share the quilting history of my family along with my personal quilting journey. It was while preparing for this celebration I realized that I had made at least one quilt in each of the decades of my life. The celebration became known as A Quinquagenarian's Quilt Quest - Five Decades of Quilting.

While my 50th birthday party was a one-woman quilt show, it is also always a thrill to see my quilts hang in other quilt shows. They always seem to hang a little straighter when surround by other great pieces. It's like watching one of my kids performing. At times when I have to ship my quilts and I am unable to visit the show where they are hanging it is hard, but I try to be mature about this and let my kids (quilts) go out on their own. The first NQA quilt show that I entered was in 2004. What a thrill it was to receive an Honorable Mention in 2010 for my Grandma's Hexagarden.

Grandma's Hexagarden used my favorite technique of folded hexagons. They are additive and yes, I must admit my name is Mary Anne and I am a Hexamaniac. They continue to inspire me and I am now designing a 3-D Mariner’s Compass using a pieced background and folded fabric. I hope this new design will continue to inspire more generations of quilters in the future.

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