Sept 7th 2024 Meeting Short Report

Margaret McCrory interviewed by her friend Ricki Tims & Some Show & Tell

We were excited to hear that Margaret had been interviewed by her long time friend, Ricki Tims in her home in Belfast. Margaret is one of several members held in the highest regard. Unfailingly supportive to everyone and a great advocate of encouraging people to submit their projects to competitions. She, herself is an imaginative and accmplished quilter.

By clicking on the image, you should be able to view the interview, posted on Ricki’s Facebook page.

Gaelic Blessing by Margaret McCrory [From a 2022 posting on the Ricky Tims website ]

Blessing is abundant if you take the time to list them. Quilt travels have been a blessing for many years. Back in 2000, a lady with a strong Northern Irish accent approached me at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. She was dressed very chic and her white hair had a splash of pink. She introduced herself as Margaret McCrory and asked if I would be interested in coming to teach quilt classes in N. Ireland. That encounter led to many visits to Ireland. Margaret and her husband are two of the biggest blessings in my life – a dear friendship that I treasure.

Margaret is also a musician. She spent a career as a music teacher leading special needs students. She took students with both physical and mental disabilities on tours where they would perform. She had a way of making sure a student felt important even if all they might be able to manage was to hit a drum or crash a cymbal when directed to do so. One of her wheelchair-bound and blind students went on to become a choral director. There is nothing more of a blessing than empowering and encouraging others. Margaret has done that her entire life.

Margaret and I share a passion for choral music. She sang for years with the Belfast Operatic, and I was lucky to be on the front row to watch her perform during the 100-year remembrance of the Titanic when the Belfast Operatic presented the musical Titanic. Margaret made and gifted me this quilt which was inspired by a traditional Irish blessing. The tune is by John Rutter and is my favorite tune associated with these lyrics.