Faye Bodenhamer grew up in Osage, Iowa, as the fourth of seven sisters. She learned to sew in Home Ec class and is mostly self-taught. She worked at the University of Minnesota in an office with a dress code and used to sew all her own clothes. In about 1981, Faye took a class at the Kaleidoscope shop in St. Paul and made a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. After attending a quilt show at St. Thomas Univ., she joined Minnesota Quilters. Over the years, Faye volunteered in many roles with MQ including as public relations director for three years. In its early years, MQ met in various churches and did not have a central office. E-mail communication was not yet available. An MQ phone was installed in Faye’s house, allowing her to receive and make calls for MQ. From this perch as “correspondent”, Faye was able to watch the growth of the MQ organization. She volunteered at MQ shows at Bethel College (volunteer committee), Eagan (small quilt auction), St. Cloud (volunteer committee), Rochester (quilt challenge), and Duluth (city stroll). Faye says that she made her “forever friends” at MQ! Faye’s favorite part of quilting is machine piecing blocks using scraps from her stash. She tries not to buy anything but batting. She travels to four retreats a year where she loves to put her blocks on a design wall and gather input from quilting friends. In 2006, Faye bought a Handy Quilter 16, making it possible for her to quilt and finish her own quilts. That machine was a game changer. Faye’s quilting hobby has involved her family. Her mother-in-law was a quilter who left both UFOs that Faye is finishing and a fabric stash that she uses in her scrap quilts. When Faye celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary recently, family members from around the country came to her home to celebrate. Only the oldest of her sisters is a quilter; many family members took home a favorite piece from a pile of Faye-made quilts. She makes special request quilts for her son’s family. Her two grandchildren have requested and received a bird quilt and a wolf quilt. She’s currently working on a cat quilt for them.
