Billie's flower garden and it grows

The Malta Dirt Daubers Garden Club held a soup supper meeting at Toni Ziegler's home last Monday evening, Oct. 2nd.

Guest speaker Billie Maxie gave a presentation on how flowers influenced her quilting projects.

Maxie was never one to like quilting at first but soon grew to love giving her projects to family and friends.

Flowers were the topic, along with a few vegetables and Hawaiian muumuus thrown in.

Maxie displayed several different ways material can be used. From scraps to works of art including applique and bowls.

Each piece was unique as they were created by Maxie and starting many times with just one special piece and her contemplating, "now what can I do with that?"

Through her travels she has come across several special hole-in-the-wall quilting stores, some no longer in existence, where a purchase was made.

Other times material was given to her such as the box of Hawaiian muumuus. What a challenge that was!

The Halloween wall hanging used a technique called a Kaleidoscope. A specific character of the piece such as a pumpkin would be cut and then turned and sewn together creating a pinwheel. Several of them make up the frame of the original square.

Maxie then quilted the piece with a spider web to create an even more dramatic effect.

Locally she helps with the Malta Lutheran Church creating quilts for the high school graduates, elderly members and others in need near and far.

Maxie has donated quilts to the Hospital Foundation and Walleyes Unlimited.

Currently she is involved with Project Linus, an organization that provides handmade blankets for seriously ill or traumatized children.

At 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings for 8 weeks she will get a mystery clue from around the world. For example a place like the Leaning Tower of Pisa will appear and then she will be given what kind of pattern to use to make two blocks. The 2017 challenge will be completed in February of 2018.

Maxie definitely has the talent for taking any scrap and making it work. Such an eye for color and pattern has given her pieces a nickname of "Billie back" which could either be a front or back!

Her flower garden is quilting and it does continue to grow all season long.