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I know I haven't had one of these up in a while but these take time to do and this member was very busy before we started and busy throughout. However, I think this one is well worth the wait because I found this interview to be fantastic. Here's imakequilts's interview DD: "Alright imakequilts your name is pretty self explanatory so we can skip the name origin story haha how long have you been into quilt-making?" IMQ: "Well Dan I made my first quilt 20 years ago but I have been into quilt-making for around 10 years." DD: "Wow I assume you've made a whole lot of quilts in that time then haha what influenced you into quilt making if you don't mind me asking? I'd like the readers to get a more personal view of you than one of you on the site and don't worry we won't get too personal haha" IMQ: "Well my mother and grandmother and great grandmother all made quilts. So I just naturally followed in quilt making. About 10 years ago I got involved in a quilt group within the church I was a member of and that started the roll of producing lots of quilts. I have probably made close to 100 quilts in the last 10 years. On top of that I quilt other peoples quilts for them with my computerized quilting machine. I do about 150 of those a year in my spare time." DD: "I was wrong. That's not just a lot of quilts, that is A TON of quilts haha that's pretty great. So with all the quilt making going on in your life, how did you come across the Halo franchise? Quilt making and video gaming are two very different things :lol:" IMQ: "First of all I have been into video gaming for quiet a while. My first computer was a TRS-80 color computer. Back then the way to save files was on an audio cassette tape. I spent hours typing in BASIC code from magazines and then playing the games. It was a lot different back then. I also bought an Atari Lynx when it first came out. I still think it was a lot better then the Game Boy. A friend introduced Halo to my children and me back before halo 3 came out. We did quiet a few split screen (4 player) games of Halo 2. And honestly I could not figure out how to move in that game. It just did not click. But my children were hooked so for Christmas that year the children got a halo 3 limited edition xbox. After I put the children to bed I would meet up with our friend for a few games. At some point my friend decided that we would play Rockets on Guardian. The only way I could actually get kills :-) I did become pretty good with rockets. I played with him for over a year before I was good enough to play with other people. Then I would only play lone wolf because I was not going to let down a team member because I played so badly. After about 2 years I ventured out into the social playlist. Made a few friends who I did not want on my children's account so I created my Imakequilts account. And by the way Imakequilts was after I had tried like 20 other gamer tags. It was out of desperation that I ended up with that for my gamer tag." DD: "Now that's the answer I was looking for. You've had a long history in gaming, I had no idea. By the way, imakequilts is a great name because it's simple and cool. So with that all being said, how'd you come across the site?" IMQ: "Absolute Dog is the one that told me about the site. Back when he first joined he told everyone he came in contact with about the site. I could tell how excited he was about it so I came over to check it out. Back then I just read a lot and did not post much. It was one of Choot'em's puzzles that got me really involved in the site. He drove me totally crazy trying to figure out those puzzles. I did eventually figure out one of them but that was after weeks of spending hours trying to figure it out." DD: "I know that you and Choot 'em are actually good friends on the site and have been for a while, you've even sent him a quilt! But who else besides Choot and Dog did you connect with early on in your membership?" IMQ: "Well it depends on what you mean by connected. I remember having a lot of respect for KAC31, The Director, skummgummigubbe, Azaxx and Donut for their maps in the forge contest I participated in and I enjoyed playing on their maps during the play dates. I added Spades N AZ to my list of friends because I was joining in on play dates and he was fun to hang out with. I remember having a great time with the play dates AgentLoFi hosted. I did not like DoctorB77 because he slaughtered me in a 1v1 tournament. And for the record I like DoctorB77 just fine now but that was just my first real encounter with him and no one likes to be beaten badly. I always enjoyed getting a friendly note from ZB-85 in the shout box whenever I would get on it. I remember being totally shocked to win my second forge contest because I really did not have any “close” friends on the site to boost my votes by popularity so people must have really liked my Quilting Bee Map. I could go on with all the people I've connected with as I have come across a lot of people in my time on here but I think you get the idea." DD: "I voted for Quilting Bee to win in the Heads Up Tournament Forge Contest! Great map. So are you a Forger? Do you like making Forge maps in your time on Halo?" IMQ: "I do like to forge. I don't have a lot of time for it but when I can get some quality time I enjoy it. I can say I enjoyed forging more than playing Reach. Not had much time to work on forge in halo 4 yet. I'm working on my first project there but I'm not sure I'm enjoying the forge in Halo 4." DD: "Yes I have to say Halo 4 Forge is very intricate and all but Reach's was full and easy to learn. I was alright when Forging in Halo: Reach but in 4 I'm just lost haha. So quilts, could you explain how becoming the head of Promotions and Events came into your view?" IMQ: "Well Dan I'm not really sure how I ended up in this position. I have been involved in participating in quite a few of the contest of the site and play dates for most of my time on here. I have come up with some ideas and events that I passed on to Absolute Dog. And he took some of those ideas and made something of some of them. I came up with the idea of Survivor Halo Style and I was involved in making it become a reality. I did a lot of the forge work on the maps and hosted a few of them, but only when I had to because hosting is not my thing. One day I told Absolute Dog that he needed to fix the contest and events forum and instead of pinning so much stuff come up with one thread to list the events so it would be easier to see what was really going on. He said something along the lines of why don't you do it. I actually thought he was just telling me to mind my own business. But he came back to it a few times. Actually when he asked me it was during a really busy time for my quilting and it was a couple of months later before I could even consider it. I eventually agreed to do the position with the understanding that I was not hosting events but just organizing them." DD: "And a great job you do at it. Your job is not easy for all the readers reading this that think it is haha. So speaking of events, are there any ideas floating for the new event for the first weekend of March?" IMQ: "Yes there are ideas floating around for 1st weekend in March." DD: "So they're being kept under wraps? I like surprises! I can't wait to see what'll come up on that weekend. Quilts is it true that you have the ability to appoint awards to members yourself?" IMQ: "Well we have finally finalized the details of the first weekend in March and you will be the first person I tell about it. It will be an awesome custom game play date in Halo 4. Lets just say that Absolute Dog has been collecting maps that will be worth everyone's time to come out and see and play! As for the awards yes I do give out the awards for the play dates and Spades custom game nights." DD: "Incredible!! I'm very honored actually that I'm the first outside of the events group to know! And now our readers will know soon so I guess a thread should be posted about the new event soon . Well imakequilts this has actually been really fantastic. A great interview, you've had quite the story to tell. So now quilts I ask you the final question I ask all my interviewees: What advice or words of wisdom do you have for our newer members and readers?" IMQ: "Well Dan. We are here on this site because we love to talk about halo and other video games. I just have one word of advice. Let's not take so much time talking about the video games that we forget to PLAY the video games." Quilts had some excellent answers to my questions and she could really tell a story. If you're reading this and want to get to know imakequilts more, ATTEND SOME PLAY DATES. Thanks quilts for taking time out of your schedule to do the interview and thank you 343i.org. Let's hope my next interviewee responds this month. Hail