Recently we’ve had some new employees added to the staff, so it was the perfect time for another EQ sewing day. We have lots of quilters on staff, but not everyone (yet)! Jenny was a great teacher!

And we all had fun learning!

 

As you may remember we had a contest to pick a color scheme for a quilt. We’re each sewing a block that will then be made into a quilt. Each month one staff member will be featured along with their block. (It just so happens we have 12 employees!) If you’d like to sew along the project and more details are available here.

This month we’re featuring Matt!

Matt is a support specialist who developed and maintains the EQ websites, software installations, as well as nuts and bolts of the EQ servers, email list and most complex technical support issues. You may have talked to him on the phone if you’ve ever called Tech Support! Matt says he likes working at EQ because, “It’s a very family friendly environment. Everyone who works here cares about the work we do and everyone who works here.” He’s been here over 10 years so he was here for our last sewing classes. He knows the EQ aspect of quilting and the program very well but, hasn’t done much actual quilting.

Matt says, “This is the second quilt block I have ever sewn. Outside of a few years ago when Jenny gave us a few sewing lessons, I did learn how to sew from my Dad, hemming pants, putting on buttons, etc. He learned from his time in the Navy. Before I worked here, I never realized the amount of math involved when planning and sewing a quilt. Jenny really opened my eyes to the time and skill required to sew very complex blocks and quilts.“

“I’ve sewn a Shoo Fly block. I choose to foundation piece my block. The last time I sewed a quilt block, I rotary cut and did traditional piecing, but I wasn’t happy with how the points came out on my half square triangles. Foundation piecing really took the guess work out of lining the pieces up while I was sewing. As frustrating as it was to have to rip a few seams out, it was nice to be able to press the seam and see if I have made a mistake against the pattern.“

Every month we’re also asking a random icebreaker question, just for fun.

Matt’s question was, What is an underrated skill everyone should know (besides quilting)?

Matt said, “Changing your own oil on your car and/or just basic car repair and maintenance. Being able to change my own tire or just even understand how my car’s engine works and the basic parts of it to be able to talk to a mechanic and understand them has been so helpful.“

 

 

So that’s one block, one month, and one employee done!

Stay tuned for our next post on February 15th. We’ll feature another staff member and block!