String Quilt Style auhttps://gaaqg.dev.nsgroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Modern-Lily-Ginia-Forrester-Kudos-1.jpg Mary Hogan

by Linda Theil
February 12, 2017

String Quilt Style (Landauer, 2016) auhttps://gaaqg.dev.nsgroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Modern-Lily-Ginia-Forrester-Kudos-1.jpg Mary M. Hogan will present “Adventures in String Quilting” on GAAQG Quilt Day, 9-11 a.m. March 18, 2017 in the Morris Lawrence Building of WCC, Ann Arbor. Hogan will also teach two, full-day classes at WCC: “String Circles” 9:30-4:30 p.m. on March 17, 2017; and “Design Play Date” 9:30-4:30 p.m. on March 19, 2017.

Hogan’s book has been well-received with acclaim for its comprehensive, precise, and detailed approach to string quilting. GAAQG past-president Sonja Hagen said,

I was fortunate enough to see the proof of Mary’s book before it went to press and ordered it before it was even released! I love string quilts and already have a small collection of books, but Mary shares several new and innovative ideas for using strings. Even when I don’t have time to sew I enjoy flipping through the pages to daydream about color and design.

For an extensive review of Hogan’s book, please see GAAQG https://gaaqg.dev.nsgroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/006-1.jpg Carol Makielski’s String Quilt Style by Mary Hogan — Book Review”.

Complete information about Mary Hogan’s workshops, and online registration is available on the GAAQG website “Workshops” page. Information and links to the website are also available on FaceBook GAAQG Events at “String Circles” and “Design Play Date“.

Mary Hogan’s “Design Play Date” workshop sample by Carol Makielski.

Mary Hogan Interview

Mary Hogan is a GAAQG https://gaaqg.dev.nsgroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/006-1.jpg and quilter who is tireless in her pursuit of a useful life. She holds a doctorate in Health Service Research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and she retired from a 40-year medical career in 2011. Hogan took time from her very busy schedule to share a few thoughts with us.

GAAQG: Could you tell us about your life as a quilter?

Hogan: Several years before I retired, I started teaching at The Quilting Season in Saline, MI. First I taught basic quilting topics, such as binding and free motion quilting. Now I primarily teach techniques and patterns I’ve developed. I also do a lot of informal coaching during The Quilting Season’s open-sew sessions. For GAAQG, I’ve taught during the last several Quilt University weekends. It is only since publication of my book that I began doing trunk show lectures and teaching at other shops and guilds.

In the next few months, I have several classes scheduled at The Quilting Season and will be speaking at guilds in Battle Creek, Mount Pleasant and Clinton Township, with some others scheduled for fall and early 2018. I love teaching and helping quilters develop trust in their ideas and choices. I welcome more opportunities to teach.

[See Hogan’s schedule on her website.]

GAAQG: Why did you choose string quilting as the topic of your first book, String Quilt Style, published last year? Can you share your publishing journey with us?

Hogan: When I first retired I made lots of Safe House quilts, did some volunteer work at the Veterans Administration, and a few other things. Over time I began quilting more and soon most of my time was taken up with quilting-related activities.

On August 26, 2014, I wrote in one of my notebooks, “I’m going to write a book.” It was just ten days after participating in a week-long Nancy Crow workshop . That workshop motivated me to take myself more seriously as a quilter, resulting in moving quilting from a hobby to a second career. I was already working more than full-time on my quilting. I had a hard copy of my book, String Quilt Style (Landauer Publishing), in my hands on May 6, 2016.

Why string quilting? Several months before my declaration, “I’m going to write a book,” a quilting acquaintance was organizing a string quilt-block-making effort for her guild’s charity work. I investigated string quilts, helped her find foundations that were ready to use, and began sorting my stash and making basic string quilts. From the start of my quilting activities in the mid-1990s, I typically used many different fabrics in quilts and dabbled in improvisation. I became fascinated with repeatedly asking and answering the question “What else can I do with creating simple designs for string quilts?” The book is the result. I worked hard on putting together something that would be useful to quilters.

GAAQG: Would you tell us about the doll-making charity that I saw featured on your website?

Hogan: I coordinate the medical-education-doll program at the The Quilting Season. We make simple dolls, along with hospital gowns, that can be used at Mott Children’s Hospital in a variety of ways to help children deal with procedures and hospitalization. I like making dolls so was drawn to this activity after Mott requested help from The Quilting Season. Instructions for dolls and clothes can be found on my website under Free Stuff as downloadable documents.

GAAQG: Were you drawn to doll-making because of your work in the medical field?

Hogan: Pediatrics was not my specialty. I’m just drawn to doll-making from the creative/artist/craft side. The beginning of my sewing career was making doll clothes when I was a kid. During my sewing years, I made a lot of stuffed animals and dolls, and often bought Butterick, Simplicity, and McCall’s patterns for stuffed animals and dolls to add to my pattern collection.

I also took several doll making classes from Charlie Patricolo – who used to live in this area – and really enjoyed making them. But I had little outlet for the products of doll making. So when Mott asked The Quilting Season to make hospital gowns for dolls, I jumped in and enjoyed it. I expanded the effort from just making gowns to adding pants, rompers (a one piece outfit), and making the dolls themselves. Just recently we started making knit or crochet hats and buying little newborn socks to put on some of the dolls.On the first Friday of the month from 1-4 p.m. we gather at The Quilting Season to work together on dolls. It is just a lot of fun for us and apparently has been shown to be a therapeutically useful intervention for the children — reducing anxiety and pain.

I now bring a doll to my presentations – just to show people our work.

GAAQG: What’s next for you?

Hogan: Several other books are in the works with Landauer. As of this writing, Fast-Fold Hexies from Precuts and Stash is nearly ready to be printed. This book is about folding hexagons from circles, inserting batting, and creating small quilted hexagon units. The hexie units can be sewn together by hand or machine.

Another book, with the working title String Quilt Classic, demonstrates how to make classic quilt blocks, such as Churn Dash or stars, using strings. This book is supposed to be out in early 2018.

I plan to continue lecturing, teaching, and developing new designs and techniques. And, I’ve got a few other topics that I hope to develop into books.

GAAQG: Could you tell us about your work before you began your second career as a quilt artist and auhttps://gaaqg.dev.nsgroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Modern-Lily-Ginia-Forrester-Kudos-1.jpg?

HoganI began my working life as a nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago, and I worked in a variety of positions in the Chicago area, operating room in cardiovascular surgery, adult intensive care (medical and surgical), postpartum, pediatrics, and home care.

I got a masters degree in Public Health Nursing and Occupational Health Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I worked at Cook County Hospital Division of Occupational Medicine, then Director of Employee Health at Evanston Hospital and then taught for a year at the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

I was recruited my the University of Michigan School of Nursing to teach in their masters program in Occupational Health Nursing. We moved to Michigan in 1987 and I taught at UM for ten years. During that time I got my PhD in Health Service Research at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

In 1997 I took a position at Health Management Associates, a health care consulting firm. In 2000 I began my work at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration as a https://gaaqg.dev.nsgroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/006-1.jpg of teams conducting research on health care quality and service delivery.

GAAQG: That is an extraordinarily impressive and high-powered career. How would you compare your life as an artist to your life as a care-giver?

Hogan: It’s all one life — I’ve moved from working within organizations to working for myself and on my own terms. I love quilting, creating, and teaching. These activities provide opportunities to be with people, share experiences and provide mutual support for our quilting and our lives.

I spend nearly all my time quilting and creating and enjoy every minute of it. I’ve had a satisfying work life; and retirement has also become very satisfying. Quilting and sewing allow me to play with others while contributing to the larger community with SafeHouse quilts, education dolls and other projects.