Dr. Catherine Dutton serves as Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, teaching courses ranging from Family Crises to her favorite, Design for Everyday Living. Her research interests span from studying quilting communities and their family dynamics to developing support systems for student parents, with a particular focus on innovative teaching methods in her field.

Beyond the classroom, Catherine is an avid artist who discovered quilting during her college years. While she began with traditional quilting, she now primarily explores painting and mixed-media art, bringing a creative perspective to both her artistic practice and academic work.

Ellyn is a modern quilter, charter member and past president of the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild. She has been sewing for more than 50 years, quilting for more than 25 years. Ellyn admires all forms of traditional quilts and quilters, but making traditional quilts never quite rang true for her. When the Modern Quilt movement began more than 10 years ago she knew she had found her niche. Specifically, Ellyn loves improv quilting, saturated solid colors and collaborative quilting projects.