About this speaker
Hello, my name is Marija (pronounced same as Maria) and I am the quilter, designer and teacher behind Mara Quilt Designs.
The name of my company is a tribute to my beloved grandmother (and my namesake, who was also lovingly called “Baba Mara”). She lives only in my earliest memories, but I hope to continue and honor her sense of beauty and grace. Besides her unconditional love and gentle voice, beauty and grace are two things I remember her by the most.
My day job is bioresearch (cancer research) and quilting and design are my creative passions. I have sewed since I was eight but only discovered the magical world of quilts once I immigrated to US (from former Yugoslavia), in 1992. In quilting, my creative soul finally found a home. (and now I know why I always collected fabric beyond life expectancy!!) I fell in love with amazing language of color and endless possibilities a simple pattern can make. Quilting is not just a new craft I learned once I came to America – is has been a door, open and inviting, to the soul of American people, to American traditions and history – a door through which I entered America and felt instantly at home. My love for this art, and all it means, grows with every piece and every stitch.
I have been quilting, teaching and designing patterns for over 30 years now, publishing in national quilt magazines and my passion to do even more only grows, inspired by my family, nature and creative community of quilters.
I live in beautiful Buffalo, NY with my husband and our family (three grown children and their spouses, five beautiful grandchildren and our pets, our dog Charley and bossy cat Tesla), where inspiration of changing seasons is never-ending.