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12 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | SEPTEMBER 2022 By Mary M. Moody-Cox, Resident Where does one start when asked how one (me) got into quilting? I could be funny and say, "A long time ago, in a galaxy (Tucson, Arizona) far, far away…" My name is Mary M. Moody-Cox. I began sewing at the age of 8 when my mom let me use her sewing machine. My first project was a baby doll pajama top. That first project led me to start sewing garments. I really enjoyed sewing and making some of my clothes for high school. Now let's jump to 1985 when I was required to move to Boulder, Colorado for my employment with IBM. When one lives where it gets really cold in the winter, it's suggested that a person from the desert should carry a blanket or quilt in a car. That autumn, I took my first quilt-piecing class. I was excited but also intimidated with what the other students were doing. First of all, no one explained to me the importance of 1/4 inch seams versus 5/8 inch seam allowance. I wondered why my blocks didn't measure 12 x 12 inches square! I still have that "first" quilt (photo below); it's very humbling as it was almost my last quilt. I take pride in showing this quilt to my students to explain that even I had a rough start. Leaping forward to 1990, I returned to my roots in Tucson and walked into a local quilt shop called the Quilt Basket. I fell head over heels in love with all of the beautiful cotton fabric and patterns. I immediately signed up and started my quilting journey in earnest. In 1993, with many quilts under my belt, IBM moved my family and me back to Boulder. My interest in quilting continued to grow and I started dreaming of opening my own quilt shop. In 1994, a trip to the American Quilter's Society in Kentucky encouraged my enthusiasm to pursue a dream of opening a quilt shop. A few years later, I found the right place to rent in the little town near our home. I opened Carriage House Quilts in an old quaint house that had been built in 1904. With great excitement I stocked the store with amazingly bright fabrics and created a series of classes. I wrote a quarterly letter called Harness Notes. My most popular class was Beginning Quilting. I love teaching and making sure that my students have everything explained in detail – something lacking when I was first learning to quilt. My little shop was quilter friendly and known for its bright and rich tones. During the summer of 2000, I started an outdoor quilt show in a city park. It continued for 10 summers after I moved. It was a huge success and grew every year to include quilting workshops, quilt appraisals, and contests. My husband Larry and I had gone on vacation to Hawaii in 1999. Four months later he announced that we are going to move to the Big Island. In the fall of 2000, I sold my beloved quilt shop. By 2001, we bought a fixer-upper in Hilo, Hawaii, sold our home, ordered shipping containers, packed our belongings, and purchased one-way plane tickets. In Hawaii, I discovered the art, patience, and techniques of Hawaiian quilting. It took a huge amount of time to hand appliqué a Hawaiian design to fabric. I think that is why I only have two small appliqué pieces completed and one of them about half quilted. Maybe if I worked on it every day for a year I might have my Hawaiian-design quilt completed. Five years after moving to the Big Island, I started teaching quilting again at Kilauea Kreations II in Hilo. Kilauea Kreations II allowed my creative juices and ideas to become actual quilt designs and patterns. I started designing Hawaiian themes based on the flora, fauna, and orn to uilt My first quilt. Made in 1985 after I moved to Colorado. See if you can find the "hole" in one of the blocks. My third quilt, called Indian Women's Window. The first one was sold in 1996. One of my original designs featuring the positive and negative of turtle (Honu) shell-back designs. This is one of my very favorites!