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MAQ in Gettysburg, PA

Carly Mul • July 1, 2024

According to their website, www.maqonline.org,  the Mid-Appalachian Quilters gather each summer for a three day quilting seminar filled with classes and networking.


Marsha, one of my students from an earlier class, had suggested  I should apply for a teaching spot. She loves this quilting "camp" and thought my Organic Color Collage class would be a good fit. I asked some other quilters and everyone who had attended was raving about the three days in Gettysburg. This year was the 35th year and  people return,  year after year. Friends come together, friends meet, friends sew and laugh. I had never heard about MAQ until Marsha mentioned it.


Of course, when you go to PA you stop at some quilt shops and I had a lovely visit and nice conversation with Audrey at Danner's in Hanover. A beautiful shop with a charming location. Not in a shopping center, not in an quaint village, but right in the middle of some fields.  Don't let this location fool you, because inside was a wonderful Bernina dealer with the complete line of machines, many tools and the latest of the latest notions. The fabric section was small, but of course I had no trouble finding something for Audrey to cut. Later I heard, this shop was a major supplier of machines for classes, including many long and mid-arms. Wow, what a gift!


The MAQ board consists of all volunteers who work extremely hard to make such an event for so many quilters possible. I heard the number is around 300 people? The communication is personal, friendly  but not as clean and professional as other shows where I attend as a teacher. That has its charm and with some flexibility it all works out great. It actually adds to the total ambiance. I had no idea what to expect ,  where to go to, where I would sleep until 24 hours in advance.  I was much more freshman than faculty member.

 Where is my hall? Where is my classroom?  It made me smile. My college years are far behind me, heck even my children are already 10 years out of college! 

Most people stay on campus, but some prefer to stay in local hotels. I have seen quite some friends moving into a dorm for 4 students together, hauling sewing machines, fabrics, coffeemaker, wine and snacks alike. Clearly, it is a great time for all. 


Wandering around the beautiful buildings of the college and sleeping in a bed that will be in a few weeks the bed of a teenager made me feel nostalgic. Who would ever thought when in was in law school in The Netherlands that I would  sleep in a dorm in the US, in Gettysburg PA? My classroom was in a building for history, classic studies and philosophy and all the papers on the hallway walls with important and less important announcements were just the same as in my days. What were my dreams in those days and what has life done with those? 

In bed, a mix of nostalgic and grateful thoughts danced around in my head until i said to myself: Stop it,  Carly, go sleep,  you can't even study quilting in college! Then I fell asleep on that not too bad mattress. I had made my own bed with a pillow and sheets from home. A towel as well.... My room was clean and very, very empty, except for a roll of toilet paper. It has been nice and an oasis after all the color talk during the days.


The enthusiasm of my students  was great as always. The shared breakfasts, lunches and dinners in the dining hall were much better than the ones in my memory and the evenings gave us a fun and informative program with lots of goodies that quilters like to get. Julie Belin of Blue Oaks Quilting gave an excellent lecture on Friday night on the use of paper in quilting. On Saturday all teachers and their students were one  by one invited on the stage for a gigantic show and tell. It is a nice way for all the students to find out what they want to do next year. 

 I was proud of my class! (thank you Lynne for taking this photo and sending it to me). Organic color collage is so different from any of the other classes. We won the "award" for the messiest classroom!  After two days of working, our floor itself looked like a collage with all the little snippets from 12 students sticking to the carpet, that worked like Lite Steam a seam 2.


I felt it, this MAQ. Your quilting will get better  because there are so many classes to choose from. In every style and at every level.  Your life gets better by all these encounters with quilters.  I met many old customers, who recognized me from my shop and show days in Hershey and Philadelphia, PA. That was sweet! I also met many nice new people, just by sharing quilting talk at the table. I loved the ladies in my class:  Experienced quilters, strong personalities, all in love with color.


Next year it will be held June 5-8. The date was mentioned on the second evening for the first time and that is too late for me. Unfortunately I already know that I can't return because I will be teaching at a guild that weekend.  Those commitments are often made a long time in advance. 

 I do hope I can return another year! Thank you MAQ for this great opportunity. You are one of a kind!




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