Merrily Parker
Merrily Parker is the owner and mastermind behind Merrily We Quilt Along. Merrily first began quilting in 1995 when after seeing the movie, “How to Make an American Quilt,” her daughter, Heather, asked her to make her one. At that time, Merrily only had her grandmother’s sewing machine that was 30 years old. One thing led to another, and Merrily has not stopped quilting since! Her first 84 quilts were made in Vancouver, British Columbia that were all quilted on her BERNINA 1090, which she still owns. Sixty of these quilts were bed-size and 17 were king-size.
Merrily enjoys teaching Beginner courses because she loves to see the “ah-ha” expression when a new quilter finishes a block. She also enjoys teaching Machine Quilting since this is her favorite topic of discussion. Merrily has won several awards in various quilt shows, both local and national. She has two daughters and five grandchildren. She is so proud to have been a party of Merrily We Quilt Long for 20 years!
Ron Parker
Ron Parker was born and grew up in Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri at Rolla and received his bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1972. The early years of his career was in the gold mining industry in the western US and Canada.
The second part of his career was in the sewing machine and longarm quilting industry. He was CEO of the Gammill Quilting Machine company from 2004 through 2012. In 2012 he began his career at Merrily We Quilt Along and became a Bernina Certified Technician and has been working on sewing and longarm quilting machines continuously since.
He loves the sewing industry and especially enjoys the day to day interaction with the quilters and sewers.
Holly Fletcher
Holly Fletcher first began quilting in 2001 when she began employment at Merrily We Quilt Along. Her inspiration for quilting is her mother, Merrily. Holly’s favorite part of the job is the customers. She enjoys hearing their stories, making them smile, and helping them find the right sewing or longarm machine!
Holly has three amazing children and a husband she adores! Holly feels she is beyond blessed with her staff and customers! She thanks God everyday for her family and work!
Holly takes great pride in being the manager at the shop, it has become her second home!
Micky Baltes
Micky discovered quilting after her kids were all pretty much gone and it was love at first stitch! She said she has had the privileged to work for Merrily and Holly for about a thousand years (well since 2003!)! She said it has been a good thousand years! She enjoys working around the shop, helping our guests, and is especially happy with machine embroidery and all the fun projects that she is discovering to do on her embroidery machine. She has seven children, and keeping up with them and her grand children keeps things busy, she feels that the crew at MWQA is kind of family, and we all enjoy seeing you in the shop and helping you with your projects.
Chrissy Suarez
Chrissy has a "another" full time job helping kids! One of her loves is SEWING! So she spends time teaching, making samples, and is our #1 social media marketer! She finds what's new, fun, interesting and lets everyone know about it through social media!
Nadia Fletcher
Nadia, is Holly's daughter! She works in the mailroom between her busy schedule of college, coaching volleyball, and barnes and noble!
Sometimes you will get to see her working on the floor! She always has a sweet demeanor and wonderful smile! She's a rare gem, but we are kind of bias!!
Dee Manning
Dee is a knowledgeable on almost any topic in the world! She has a little tid bit of stories to tell you for just about anything! She will walk through the shop sharing information about each fabric line and help you pick your perfect colors! She is a wonderful teacher if you can jump into a class with her!
Connie Johnson
Connie Johnson made her first quilt in junior high with her grandmother help it was a red and white checker board. They used a white bed sheet for the backing and tied it together with red yarn. After she moved to Missouri, her neighbor Daisy had a beginning quilt class at her house, Connie had been wanting to start quilt again. Then she heard about Merrily’s beginning quilting class, she took the class and has been quilting ever since!! She started working for Merrily in 2018, and said it’s the best job she ever had!
Jody Martin
Jody loves LORI HOLT fabrics! She is our go to for machine applique and anything Lori Holt! Jody's knowledge of everything quilting is extensive and she is always willing to help out!
Chelsea Rondelli
Chelsea here! The baby at MWQA. My quilting journey started only 6 years ago when I decided to make one for my boyfriend at the time, now husband. I’d never used a sewing machine so naturally I made a queen size quilt made completely out of 4” half square triangles in a pattern I drew up with appliqués of his cattle brand in several areas. It’s awful. I taught myself and I skipped MANY steps. And bought entirely too much fabric. Oh and made awful matching throw pillows. BUT it started an obsession and it’s been my artistic outlet since.I’m married to a Brazilian cowboy, have a little girl who is the coolest and smartest and I have a standard poodle who is the coolest but definitely lives up to the name Phoebe. We try to go “home” to Itapetininga, São Paulo, Brazil as much as possible where his entire family still lives.Modern patterns using earthy solids are my personal favorite but I don’t descriminante. I love civil war reproduction, modern lines like RSS and Tula. My favorite fabric designer however is Heather Ross!
Pearlena Hamlet
Pearlena is not only a wonderful piecer but also an amazing quilter! She is patient and so kind! You will love your interaction with her when you come into the shop!
Bill Fullerton
Bill is our behind the scenes man! He helps with quilting quilts, delivering longarms and is just about the nicest person you will ever meet!
These two birds represent of our beloved employees that we will see again in heaven,
Charlie Benton and Carol Fellin.
We miss their wit, laughter, and friendship.