Desire to Inspire - August Challenger - Meet Mary Crowther

Meet Mary Crowther- She took on the challenge of using "Shoe Love is True Love” by Kate Mawdsley in the month of August 2019.

My name is Mary Crowther and I  live in the beautiful Walla Walla Valley on a quiet street.  Summertime is the best with rolling hills of vineyards, wheat, and bluegrass crops. I  love all the trees and old houses.  There are three college/universities nearby.

In my big family, there is always something happening.  I kinda like Baseball and the Walla Walla Sweets have done pretty good this year. My family is scattered from Zillah to Richland & Kennewick to Wyoming and Missouri. One of our 22 grandchildren lives in Ohio. I  love when one of the faraway families come to visit,  everybody wants to get together. 

I grew up under a Quilt. When my grandma visited our home in Moses Lake, Washington, my mother would invite the church ladies to come and quilt. My job under there was to not bump the quilt and to thread the needles. They mostly did whole cloth quilts made of tricot and brushed nylon.  A quilting design drawn on plastic sheeting was traced onto the tricot. Quite the process. My mom worked so I loved when grandma came. I made my own first quilt in high school (the 1970's) so I could have a quilt to take to college. A flannel rail fence, cut with scissors and a cereal box template.  We tied it with colored yarn. Pieced quilts at our house were mostly tied, too many seams to poke the needle through. I  took my first quilt class after the invention of rotary cutters at the Hancock Fabrics in Pasco. Jo Fox was my mentor/teacher.  Pasco was a 45-minute drive from our home in Mesa, Washington. 

I'm a Traditional Quilter but love the novelty fabrics for fussy-cutting. I love designing my projects in EQ8. I got my EQ program when I was a McCall's Quilt Design Star in 2011. I'm 62 years young and am teaching my granddaughters to use EQ and make quilts at our annual "Quilting Grandma Camp". 2019 was our third year.

I belong to two guilds,  Walla Walla Valley Quilt Guild and the Tri-City Quilters Guild. I joined the second after entering their quilt shows for many years. Our local quilt show is coming up in September. The festival committee,  not the guild, sponsors it. I volunteer with the guild setting up and working at the front entry and guild table. I have gone on retreats and met Brady Pettit through the sew-ins, we wear our tiaras and call it tiara-time.

We are lucky to have five shops within a 1/2 hour drive.  I have taught classes for Josh & Tara at Walla Walla Sew, Vac and Spas. My quilt buddy, Lynn Wilson has a little shop behind her home in College Place. I have learned a lot from her. 

I learned to longarm on a Gammill with Suzanne Young around 2005.  I got 'Betsy', my Viking Mega Quilter 18-8 in 2014. She's computerized. 

I started my blog in 2008. It was after my Dream Job, working and teaching BOM (Block of the Month) at Hancock Fabrics ended, the store closed. August is my Blog-o-Versary. I blog about 3 times a week, linking to Design Wall Monday and One Monthly Goal. Usually on MWF.  

Check it out: www.mary-quiltingrandma.blogspot.com 

In my spare time, I read books about quilting, lol. My favorite authors are Jennifer Chiaverini,  Maries Bostwick, Ann Hazelwood, Arlene Sachitano, Sandra Dallas & Emilie Richards. I have a bit of Quilter's ADD.  I have made way more quilts than beds, windows, and walls in my house. Bought a lot more fabric than I can ever use. Like My favorite Quilty T-Shirt says, "To quilt or not to quilt? DUH!"

Mary's Projects Made with "Shoe Love is True Love"

View the Full Collection Here

Download Quilt Project #1 for FREE Here