WWQP Bulletin Board Chat

Retreat, part 2 of 3

So sorry about the small print - I don't know what key I hit that caused that. Glad to know Laura knew a way to fix it. M

The only order of business for Friday morning after breakfast was a trip to Walmart so Grace could purchase coffee on sale, so everyone was on their own timetable. Grace and Nellie were nearly through by the time Celia B. and I got there about 8, and by 9 even night-owl Celia P. had shown up. Waffles, cereal, eggs, sausage, bagels, and toast gave everyone some semblance of choice, and outside of the other travelers being a bit taken aback at this chattering and giggling group of women taking over a whole table meant for only 6, everything was fine. Nellie’s husband Clay even came and ate with us. One group decided to go sightseeing through the town while Grace, Jane, and Nellie went to Walmart. I stayed at the motel with my knitting just in case Grace’s buddy Dianne showed up while they were gone. The reports were that Walmart was quite crowded and Nellie decided to walk back (almost a half mile), although I think she admitted the cans of coffee got pretty heavy by the time she got back. Dianne did get there, and she, Grace, Nellie, Jane, and I visited for a while waiting for the other group to return. We got hungry, and since there had been no set schedule, we decided to go on to Tim Horton’s for lunch, not knowing that the remaining crew were busily traipsing through a grocery store getting picnic supplies for all of us. So we came back from lunch and a drive around to see most of the murals to a picnic on the patio of the motel, and more food, and to find that Brenda had arrived to join us. Have I mentioned that we ate and talked and laughed, and ate and laughed some more?

After lunch we had our goodie bag exchange there on the patio. Jean’s contribution were the lovely handmade totebags and we soon had them filled with all sorts of goodies - bookmarks with the word "GRACE" to remember Grace’s retreat, several fat quarters of fabric, a telescoping magnets for picking up pins from the floor, maple sugar candies, coasters from Korea, 2009 calendar mousepads for our computers, over-the-couch-arm quilted storage caddies for TV remote controls, and the folding sun hats are examples. Brenda’s handmade paper quilt-design picture frame with space for everyone to sign and leave email information were also a hit. The story behind the folding sun hats were that I’d been invited to a hat shower for a couple of ladies in my church who were undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, and I gone on the internet looking for a turban pattern for chemo patients. I’d found instead these folding sun hats - a flat-brimmed fabric hat with a flexible wire in the outside edge of the brim, which twists and folds down to fit in a zippered carry-case about 6 inches in diameter - at a price lower than I could make anything. A couple of our retreat participants are breast cancer survivors, as are several BBChat posters, and I’ve heard many of you say how much you enjoy your gardens and outdoor flowers, which set me thinking about skin cancer and sun protection - hence the sun hats. Of course I wasn’t particularly expecting the whole oversize bikini top exhibition from our Celia P., but it was all in good fun and the source of many more giggles and mental-image memories that will never be the same.

The afternoon continued with visits to a nearby nursery and gift shop for prowling through the Christmas ornaments (Kathi, how many bears did you end up with?), and on to the blueberry farm’s gift shop where I know I heard Nellie and Celia B. having a debate over which of them would get a blueberry-patterned pottery bowl. Dinner in the evening was at a downtown restaurant, with a choice of salmon or prime rib with salad, herbed potatoes, vegetables, and dessert. Two or three of Grace’s quilting guild friends came from Chalk River to join us for dinner, and the chef/owner came out to welcome us before dinner. We all had a good time chatting and visiting before the meals made it to the table, but the noise level really dropped when the food appeared. As we were leaving the restaurant after a leisurely meal, the chef was sitting at a curbside table outside visiting with a couple of friends, and he asked what more he had to do to get a quilt; could he come and be measured for it? Of course that set off more gales of laughter, but as we were driving back to the motel, you could hear the mind wheels start turning, and the idea had taken hold to make a wall hanging for him - more later on this.

Back to the motel and gathering in Grace’s suite for show and tell. Those of us flying in mostly brought pictures rather than the real things because of luggage space, but the Canada crew held up their end just fine. Kathleen says she’s a very new and quite inexperienced quilter, but she certainly showed herself proud with a lapquilt done with 18-inch drunkard’s path blocks that were cut after layering, and portions of the arcs reversed and resewn to become a very unusual setting. You’d have to see it, I think, to understand the concept. Brenda, Celia B. and I left about 11 pm to hit the hay and plan for another day, with orders to be ready to leave at 9:30 the next morning.

Saturday morning dawned somewhat foggy, and as I snuggled under the covers, I could hear the train whistle in the distance as a freight went through town on its way south. Our group sort of straggled in to breakfast as it had been a late night for some of the more talkative ones in the group. Brenda’s sister Karen joined us fresh from seeing a performance of Cirque du Soleil (hope I spelled that right) in Ottawa on Friday evening, a birthday present from her daughter if I got the story straight. "Anyway", we managed to get ourselves sorted into 3 cars and headed for Chalk River to a quilt shop in the basement of a lady’s house. It was amazing how much variety of fabrics, quilt notions, patterns, and samples she has packed into the three rooms, with still room enough for tea and muffins for those who simply hadn’t had enough to eat. An hour later saw us piled into cars again for a short trip to the local library where there was a quilt show set up in the basement. Admission was voluntary donation, and gloves were available for those who simply could resist touching. There were about 50 or 60 items hung in a very nice showing, some artsy, some traditional, all gorgeous. Several of the items were quilted by Grace’s friend Catherine, and you’ll hear more about her later. Also available for sale were CDs with a complete set of photographs of each item in the show.

More later. Marie in Maryland

posted by Marie in Maryland @ 10:49 AM