Change

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 teaching Quilt in A Day classes. And so, it began – my first Log Cabin quilt! Then she convinced me to hop on a military flight to the US to take a teacher’s certification class with her at Quilt in A Day! As time progressed, I learned to hand quilt from a wonderful German military wife. Then I began using the skills and taught countless Japanese women how to quilt! What a wonderful experience it was for six years! Learning to quilt was a huge change for me! Little did I know what an addiction it would become!

A little over two years ago another big change occurred – I took on machine embroidery! I kept telling my friend, Jan, I’m never going to go that. But I admired all the wonderful things she was making and got the bug! How much pleasure this change has brought me!

Change can be difficult though. I remember around 2005 I joined PAQA when I first came to Arizona. I attended for six or seven months but left the group because no one spoke to me during that entire time! Last year, when I was President-Elect, there were several Board conversations about how PAQA needed to become a more inviting, friendly, inspiring group and we wanted to focus on that change. This year we are again focused on this change. As I said last month, we want everyone to feel welcome and to enjoy their experience! All members can help with this change .... say hi to someone new, participate in a challenge, attend a workshop, participate in Show and Tell, begin a new quilt to show at our Quilt Show in April! Share your love of quilting with our fellow members. Together we can inspire each other and, as we do, the positive change will keep growing!

Even though we don’t feel the change of season here in Phoenix, enjoy Fall! Welcome back our out of town friends! Keep quilting!

Happy Quilting!
Melodie

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