Sunday, August 2, 2009

MQA Educational Seminar with M'Liss Rae Hawley


Hattiesburg's Pine Belt Quilters hosted the third class of MQA's 2009 Educational Seminar on July 31-August 1 with M'Liss Rae Hawley teaching from her book, Mariner's Medallion Quilts (C&T Publishing). Thirteen students attended the two-day class and reported they gained valuable knowledge in auditioning and selecting fabric for their quilts.
Class participants were, L to R (front): Mary Nell Magee, Marietta Johnson, Gloria Burlette, (M'Liss), Diana Boulware, Kim Overstreet, Chris Jarrell (back): Paula Kopp, Kay Guillot, Therese Springer, Betty Bingham, Cynthia Reaves, Deb Milam, and Wynema McGrew.






M'Liss and PBQ president Barb Peters















The students used a variety of fabrics, as illustrated above. Each student came with a copy of the book and the fabrics she had chosen for her quilt. As each showed her fabrics, the group offered critiques on why one fabric would work better than another and how to complete the quilt after making the center block. M'Liss was courteous with her comments, gently suggesting "how about try this?" instead of criticizing a bad choice, leading the students to explore possibilities and train their eyes to see good choices.
There was lots of sharing of fabrics as quilters recognized how a fabric they had would be the perfect addition to a neighbor's block. M'Liss also gave tips on sleeves and binding which will be helpful later. Due to the serious illness of her mother, she had to fly back home a little early on the second day of class but had packed extra material into the first day's class in preparation of this possibility. Coordinating a flight out of New Orleans with a ferry ride to Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington takes some planning! We enjoyed having her way down South.