Maggie Ball leaves next month to teach quilting in Mongolia.

Island artist Maggie Ball will use a Mongolian symbol to make more than a symbolic difference in the lives of Mongolian women.

The traditional glyph for “long life and good health” – a form resembling a squared-off Celtic knot – will be the basis for quilting designs and techniques Ball will teach the women when she travels to the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar next month.

Proceeds from their craft projects will help make the women’s lives less harsh.

Ball, a quilter of some renown, was contacted through her website by Selenge Tserendash, an advocate for Mongolian women who had discovered quilting when she was a student at the University of Washington in 2002.

“Selenge saw quilts and decided that quilting would be a good activity for women in Mongolia,” Ball said. “Last summer I got an email from her.”

Tserendash – an attorney who must double as a tour guide in summer to earn a living in Mongolia – described to Ball the harsh economic conditions in the country, where unemployment and inflation that have intensified since the fall of Communism in 1990. She invited Ball to come to the country and teach quilting.

“Since the Russians pulled out 11 years ago a lot of the infrastructure is gone,” Ball said. “People who had pensions and other help from the state – that’s all gone. In Ulaanbaatar, There’s 30 percent unemployment.

“The women are expected to be providers and caretakers for their families and this is particularly difficult for single parents.”

The conditions exact a social toll, she says, in widespread alcoholism and a pervasive sense of hopelessness.

The women’s attempts to sell their traditional Mongolian woolen crafts have been stymied by a saturated market and competition from cheap Chinese goods. The chemicals used to make the felt also cause health problems.

Ball accepted the invitation, and began to raise the money for the trip, looking for corporate support and approaching vendors at national gatherings.

The quilting industry has been supportive, Ball says, donating sewing machines, supplies and tools.

Locally, the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club will help pay shipping costs for some of the donated supplies to be sent to Mongolia; St. Barnabas Episcopal Church is matching individual donations.

On May 30, Ball is raffling off a basket of quilting supplies and an antique crib quilt at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, which has a display of spools of thread that patrons can sponsor.

“Each spool comes in a little fabric bag with a label for the donor to sign,” Ball said. We hope to take 120 sponsored spools to Mongolia, enough for one each for every woman taking a quilting class at the Center in Ulaanbaatar in the first year.”

Ball and her daughter, Hazel, must still cover travel expenses for the 23-hour flight to Ulaanbaatar, and the rest of the shipping costs.

An unexpected preparation has been learning to ride a horse, since horses still provide much of the transportation in the sparsely settled country, approximately the size of Alaska.

“My daughter is delighted,” Ball said. “She’s wanted me to learn how for years.”

Her Mongolian students will not be starting from scratch. “One of the women used to work for an American family for five years and learned some quilting,” Ball said. “She has started to teach five of the other women, and they have already made a quilt, which they were able to sell, and patchwork pillows.

“When we visit, we will work with the experienced quilters helping them to improve their skills and teaching them new techniques, so that they in turn can teach the other women.”

Support also comes from the Japanese division of an international organization, The United Development Fund for Women, which has underwritten the purchase of five hand-operated sewing machines and a few of the rotary cutters used to cut fabric for quilting, and the same group pays the rent for a community center where the Ulaanbaatar crafters gather.

Ball discovered quilting when she moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1983 from her native Northumberland in England.

The sight of the colorful, hand-sewn quilts drying on clotheslines along the back roads of the Ozarks inspired Ball to learn the craft herself.

Two decades – and a lot of fabric – later, Ball is a recognized authority in her field, with prizes from national competitions to her credit. She has pieced together a career that spans writing, teaching, and designing custom fabric.

The opportunity to share her quilting skills internationally stirs a variety of emotions for Ball.

“I’m excited but a little apprehensive,” she said. “I want to be properly prepared, and there are many unknowns.”

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Ball’s quilts are on view at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church through July.