If you've been to a meeting lately, you'll have noticed that we aren't getting any smaller! In an effort to get to know everyone better and learn a bit about new members, we're introducing a new column: Member Spotlight! To start things off, here is Mary Ann!

1) How long have you been making quilts? What was your learning process like?

I've been quilting for maybe four years? I started sewing in junior high--clothing and baby stuff and purses but was never the least bit interested in piecing a bunch of triangles into a boring looking star pattern. When I finally realized that there were patterns I liked I jumped in with a few baby quilts. My first projects had a lot of mistakes--a pinwheel quilt with a couple pinwheels spinning the wrong way, another baby quilt that I tried to use fusible batting on that bunched up terribly--but I caught the bug.

2) How long have you been a PMQG member and how did you find us?

I attended the second meeting. My friend Kimberly Lumapas told me about it.

3) What inspires your designs/quilting?

I am a total book/blog/picture junkie, I love looking at what other people have made and then putting my own twist on it or just letting the ideas simmer until I come up with something of my own. A lot of times inspiration can come from fabric, because it needs to be cut or pieced a certain way.

4) How many quilts do you think you've made in your life?

Probably around 15-18? It's hard to say since so far I haven't kept any and they have all been gifts or swaps!

5) Why do you quilt? What do you enjoy most about it?

I think I quilt just to create. Sometimes you get that feeling where you just have to make something, even if it doesn't turn out well or nobody else appreciates it. I enjoy the process of piecing and binding and that final moment when it's all finished and washed and you can really feel the weight and texture of it. I don't care for the basting and quilting process, so I do get stuck with finished quilt tops a lot of the time!

6) What is your favorite quilt that you've made?

This is always changing, but right now it's a quilt I made for a friend in a Craftster swap. She sent me about a yard of Ghastlies fabric, and initially I was going to make an apron for her. But I decided it would be an awesome quilt and cut it up into "scenes" which I made into a sampler style quilt, with pairs of modern style blocks. I love using gray but am not a fan of black and pink together, so while I enjoyed working with the quilt and loved the end result, it wasn't too difficult to give up since it wasn't exactly "me" colors.

7) Fill in the blank: "When I'm quilting, I feel _______"

Free!

8) While you're quilting, what is the environment like? do you listen to music? enjoy the humming of the machine? watch re-runs of Downton Abbey?

I like to quilt in my sewing room with the tv on. I watch something I've seen before like Buffy or Friends, or something that doesn't require a ton of attention (Dr 90210, don't judge!), or anything else on Netflix Instant that catches my fancy.

Thanks so much for sharing with us Mary Ann!
-Heather