Kept In Stitches

Recently, I attended the Glendale Quilt Guild’s monthly meeting. Their speaker was Mike McNamara, He is a California resident living in the Bay area. Mike gave a terrific presentation and showed us so many quilts. The stories about each of the quilts kept us in stitches. I volunteered to help hold up quilts as he shared the story of each quilt. The construction of these quilts was impressive. Many times a picture can hide many sins and this was not the case with his quilts. Some of the backs were just as great as the top side.

Following the lecture, there was a Saturday class teaching the techniques he uses when creating each of these works of art. I’ve found that it is easy to follow a pattern and can be very challenging for some quilters to think outside the box and be creative. I came home with several samples on curved improv piecing and now I’m faced with the decision of incorporating them into a quilt. I love the creative process of not following a pattern and creating a one-of-a-kind piece. A huge thanks to Mike (Mac) for all his inspiration and patience with the Glendale Quilt Guild.