About the MCQA
Raffle quilt for Autumn Comforts quilt show in 1982.
History
The Marquette County Quilters Association (MCQA) began in 1978, when a group of parents from Silver Creek Elementary School in Marquette, Michigan, decided to make a raffle quilt to help pay the expenses for a local boy who had been burned in a house fire. The group so enjoyed their time together, working and talking about quilting, that they decided to organize a group to meet regularly. They arranged a meeting place and set a date for the first meeting of the MCQA. Twenty enthusiastic quilters attended that very first meeting.
More than 40 years later, MCQA remains a vibrant, enthusiastic group of quilters from all over the Marquette area. Our members are dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the art of quilting, patchwork, applique, and fiber arts.
“Quilts are love, manifested. Put another way: You can’t wrap a baby in an iPad.” ~ Mary Fons
Community
MCQA members believe in using our resources to give back to our community. Each year we sew bed quilts, wall quilts, and other items for local organization such as:
Bay Cliff Health Camp
Trillium Hospice House
Harbor House
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), UP Health Systems - Marquette
St. Vincent de Paul
Marquette County Medical Care Facility
Tracy Wascom, Associate Professor in the School of Art & Design at Northern Michigan University, presents to MCQA on design elements in quilts.
Learning & sharing
MCQA holds regular workshops and meeting programs to celebrate and teach quilting techniques. In the fall MCQA traditionally holds a day of techniques and presentations known as “Schoolhouse” that is open to the public and MCQA members.
We also seek to bring in regionally and nationally known quilting teachers to share their talents with our community.
Each spring, MCQA holds a week-long retreat at the Rapid River Lodge in Rapid River, Michigan, where members enjoy a relaxed week of quilting and each other’s company in gorgeous U.P. surroundings.
