“Gateway to Mongolia” - Instructor: Maggie Ball

“Gateway to Mongolia” Instructor: Maggie Ball
Sunday, September 23, 2018

8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
At NMQA Office-
5528 Eubank NE, Suite 6
Cost: $53.75 Members
           $75.25 Non Members

Pattern fee: $5.00

The olzii, or never-ending knot, is a traditional Mongolian motif symbolizing the dynamic expanse of the universe and the endless cycles of life and death. It brings long life and prosperity, and drives away wild beasts and evil spirits. This symbol is used widely in Mongolia as decorative art. The pattern for the quilt, including the border, was taken from the door of a Mongolian ger (yurt). Class participants may use either a dark or light background with contrasting Olzii and border. Shading with similar values in the Olvii adds to the subtle woven effect.

Maggie Ball taught quilting in the capital city of Mongolia to needy women at the New Way Life Mongolian Quilting Center in 2004. She helped organize the first International Quilt show in Mongolia and led a capital campaign with her church that raised $80,000 to purchase a permanent facility for the Mongolian Quilting Center. 

Visit her website – www.dragonflyquilts.com to learn more about her work in Mongolia.

Maggie Ball was born in Northumberland, UK, north of Hadrian’s Wall and almost in Scotland, which she claims technically made her a Barbarian! She has a scientific background in biology and geography. She moved to Arkansas in the U.S. in 1983 and discovered quilts. The local guild members introduced her to a marvel, the rotary cutter. She loved the joys of sharing a common interest with other quilting enthusiasts. Since 1993, she has lived on beautiful Bainbridge Island in the Pacific Northwest.

Maggie made quilts with and for children and schools, resulting in her books, Creative Quilting with Kids (2001) and Patchwork and Quilting with Kids (2003). She then chose to tweak traditional patterns, resulting in the book Traditional Quilts with a Twist (2006). Next her traditional roots resulted in Bargello Quilts with a Twist, a unique approach to bargello quilting simplifying the construction. Her most recent innovation is devising a template-free method for making kaleidoscope blocks—the Op-Art Kaleidoscope block. She believes that quilting is awesome!