Meet Jennifer Fisher, Membership Manager

We’d love for you to get to know the MQG Staff! Every few weeks, we’ll highlight one of our eight staff members. We’re quilters too, and we each made a quilt using a pattern from the MQG Resource Library to share with you. Once the quilt is made, we will donate it to a local organization or raise money for a cause through the sale of the quilt. This week, Jennifer Fisher, Membership Manager, shows us her version of the Scoop by Daisy Aschehoug.

How long have you been quilting? I made my first quilt 20-ish years ago and was totally clueless. I set about sewing fabric together, cutting shapes, and trimming until it all fit. I didn’t even know about binding. I sandwiched the batting and backing on it, stitched around the edge leaving a hole to pull it all through like a pillow, then tied it to finish. After that, I left quilting behind until about 8 years ago when I went looking online for inspiration to make a quilt for my niece. I happened upon modern quilting in the many blogs that existed back then and learned so much from them, including quarter-inch seams and binding.
Do you have any quilting friends? (By quilting friends, we mean pets that like to hang out on your quilts!)We have a Goldendoodle named Benni who wants to be my helper, but his penchant for eating anything on the floor and my messy sewing (thread, pins, and fabric bits on the floor) do not mix! He has a gated-off pen where he can be near, but not in my sewing area.
Do you have a favorite block or technique? I love paper piecing – especially when it can be done as freezer paper piecing. I am not very good at sewing straight seams and cutting accurately – paper piecing takes those out of the equation and helps me to get good results.
What about non-quilty hobbies? I enjoy reading and puttering about in the yard. These days I mostly enjoy doing whatever my “adult” children will hang out and do with me. I am enjoying this extra time with them and know that it is limited.
Tell us about your life before the MQG. I got a degree in psychology (very practical I know) and ended up working for a credit card company handling disputes. When my oldest was born I became a stay-at-home parent for many years and even got to spend a few years taking care of my nephews while also working part-time from home doing medical scheduling and billing. When Covid hit and the world shut down, I spent some time evaluating what I really wanted to do … the job opening at the MQG came along at just the right time for me.
Did you make any modifications or additions to the quilt pattern? I did not modify the pattern, but due to some accuracy issues of my own (not the pattern), it did become a lot more square than the pattern.
Where are you donating your quilt? The proceeds from my quilt will go to the Lupus Foundation of America. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for all people affected by lupus through programs of research, education, support, and advocacy.