Submitted by Paula Darko Hensler
Marge Kroeger started sewing with 4-H at an early age,12 to be exact. While in her school Home Economics classes, she started to sew garments. Because both she and her mom were tall this came in handy, and she was able to start making clothes to fit them both. Living on a farm, her sewing skills came in handy to recover a tractor seat or two along the way as well.
Marge made her first quilt while she was at college. She used her grandmother’s aprons and remnants of shirts and dresses that the family had worn. She also made a denim quilt from recycled jeans, roughly attempting to machine embroider historic pictures on it.
While teaching for a living, she dabbled in the techniques of piecing and quilting. Marge was a math teacher, so geometry was part of her skill set and she used it to build quilt blocks.
After retirement, Marge joined the Kootenai Valley Quilt Guild (KVQG) so she could meet and socialize with other quilters and be inspired by the other guild members.
Marge has always pushed herself to go beyond her comfort level to learn. Because of this, she started to quilt on her small machine which was not easy. Large quilts are difficult to quilt on a small machine, so she built a long arm quilting frame using a design from the internet. Using that frame and her small machine pushed Marge again to learn more. She eventually purchased a mid-size longarm machine and she has not looked back.
Marge is a tireless worker for the guild. She has chaired the quilt show, volunteered to oversee the purchase and use of a new frame system, and she is on year nine of co-chairing the sewing camp for young people held during the summer. Marge also helps on the guild’s community project committee which assists community groups with sewing and quilting done by the guild.
Marge is a lifelong learner and she shares that with the guild all of the time.
Marge and her work will be featured at the KVQG’s Nordicfest Quilt Show which will be held at Libby’s Asa Wood gym on September 7 and 8.
Please come and see Marge’s quilted treasures along with those of other quilters at this outstanding once a year event.
KVQG is proud to have Marge Kroeger as their quilter of the year and the guild congratulates her on her achievements.