Quilts in Many Pieces (Aug. 1 – Nov. 11, 2012)

Carolyn Marsh has been passionately making quilts for over 20 years. She walks that fine line between passion and obsession when it comes to quilting! She purchased a longarm quilting machine because she couldn’t let anyone else work on her quilts. She had heard of AccuQuilt products but had never taken the opportunity to try them until she joined the team in March of this year. Before using the AccuQuilt products she would starch her fabrics before rotary cutting so that she could match all the points when piecing. With this quilt she did not starch her fabric. She was amazed at how accurately and quickly this quilt went together. Accurate cuts do make better quilts!

She looks forward to the day that she can sit with her grandbabies and teach them to make quilts!

Melissa Merriman’s love of quilts has been a part of her entire life as well as a part of her family history as quilts have been past down from generation to generation. As a child she remembers snuggling up under her grandmother’s quilts, it was like wrapping yourself in love, warmth and fond memories. Melissa started to sew as soon as her feet could reach the foot pedal and has been quilting for over 15 years. Her love for designing her own quilts led her to start her own quilt pattern business, Toadally Quilts, in 2009. Her passion for quilting and the ever evolving new styles and techniques continue to be an integral part of her quilting and life.

Barbara Scott began her piecing of quilts in high school in the 1960’s. She remains loyal to traditional patterns but one might not know if you see one of her brightly colored quilts. She is most inspired in fabric by colors and enjoys her biggest love of embellishing and making quilts today. In recreating the past with this piece she really felt a connection to those days gone by.

Love of quilting runs in Mary Pumphrey’s family. Her mother and grandmother both quilted in the 1930’s. The large Yo-Yo quilt is a family piece made by her mother. She started quilting in the 1970’s and has had many wonderful experiences, including having quilts in the Paducah and Houston quilt shows and the AQS calendar. She is delighted that her daughters are carrying on the quilting tradition.

The exhibit is curated by Linda Pumphrey, GO!bal Sales Manager for AccuQuilt international distributor of fabric cutting solutions in the quilting and fabric crafts markets. Linda is responsible for expanding the reach of AccuQuilt product lines on a national and international level through the execution of sales strategies and programs and to achieve maximum sales volumes for AccuQuilt products. She also oversees the research and development of new products as well as the sales strategies for both new and existing products.

Linda has served on several renowned quilt industry boards including: the American Quilt Study Group, Ohio Quilt, the 2003 Bicentennial committee for the State of Ohio, and the Midwest Textile Association. Currently she serves on the Board of The Alliance, the Advisory Board for Quilts Inc, Houston, TX, and is currently Vice President of Membership of the International Quilt Association. She is also on the Advisory Board of the International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to being an active member of the quilt industry, Pumphrey is an award-winning quilter. Her love of quilting grew from her mother and her grandmothers. She can trace back to at least five generations within her family tree of quilters.