PAQA President's Blog

I sit here thinking about my blog this month and decide to write about change. Is change good? Is change bad? Or is change just different? Growing up in upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains I loved the change of seasons - the cool crisp fall nights, apple picking, the end of summer barbecues. Those are the simple changes we can experience year after year. Big changes were ahead of me though. My husband joined the USMC and our lives changed for the next 21 years! Was the change going to be good for our family? It was different, it was challenging, it was at times lonely, but along the way great memories were made, we have life-long friends and my love for quilting began! I had never used a sewing machine! I had no idea what a bobbin was. No one in my family quilted or even sewed. My Mom was lucky to be able to sew on a button and make a terrible hem! A crafty friend told me I needed to learn how to quilt! She convinced me to buy my first machine – a $99 Brother. She was t...

As I sit thinking about what to write to the Membership of PAQA, a few things come to mind. First, what a wonderful group this is. Thank you for the opportunity to lead such an amazing group! Second, I think about how getting involved has helped my circle of quilting friends grow and inspire me to do more! Quilters are a wonderfully giving, loyal group of friends who encourage each other, challenge each other and know how to have fun! Third, I think about our purpose – to educate quilters. It is a challenge to keep our hobby going. How can we as an organization share our goal to educate quilters and share this with younger generations? How can we inspire them to create quilts and keep this wonderful -- and addicting -- hobby alive for many years to come? How can we share the joy we feel when we create something new? When we touch a piece of fabric? When we discover a new designer? How can we explain the passion of having a stash of wonderful fabrics, a pile of UFO’s, multiple machine...