MINI RETREAT

Two days away from home, hosted in a lovely setting on Quadra Island, with the focus being FABRIC...what more could I ask for? I left my family behind and my day-to-day chores to join my two friends, Terry (our hostess) and Ellen, for what we called our mini-retreat. I packed my tub with dyes, white fabric, stamps, and a collection of embellishment tools with the idea of creating fabric pieces in both new and tried-and-true methods.

Terry's new home, not yet completed to the stage of being move-in ready, was perfect for the 3 of us. Downstairs was our makeshift studio and upstairs were our living quarters. Her husband helped to rig up a hot and cold water sink, complete with a 5-gallon bucket underneath as our drainage system.

We busily tried a number of methods: wheat paste cracking, stamping and making stamps, carving stamps out of styrofoam trays, palette dyeing and folding. Using wheat paste was a new one for me. The sun cooperated by drying out the pasted fabric quickly, then I gently crushed it to get the "cracked" look. I painted over it with thickened dye to fill in the cracks. My results showed that I should have been more aggressive with my crushing, so I went ahead and tried it again. Terry drew a lovely picture into her wheat paste AND pressed lace into it which produced amazing results. This is one method I will definitely try again.

We stopped in time to spruce ourselves up a bit for a lovely dinner at the Heriot Bay Inn. What a treat to go out to dinner with friends.
Sunday was another day of more of the same. By day's end I was exhausted, but filled with a much needed burst of creative energy. We vowed to make it an annual event.

                        

MARATHON WEEKEND

It wasn't a running race or a cross-bay swimming venture, but a QUILT MARATHON.

Place? Quadra Island Community Center.

Who's involved? Quadra Island Quilters' Guild.

Purpose? To make quilts to be given to young patients at the Vancouver Children's Hospital.

And yes, I was so happy to be able to attend.

For two full days, over 40 quilters and volunteers gathered at the Community Center to participate in this annual event that produces over 40 beautiful quilts for children. Comfy clothes, yummy treats, friendly advice , and of course fun companionship were also a big part of the weekend. The Quadra Guild is an incredibly generous group of talented quilters from all walks of life and with a wide range of sewing interests. There was never a dull moment, and one by one the quilts lined up on the stage. Here are a few of the projects and quilters hard at work.Thanks to the local Fire Dept. for set-up and take down, Linda for a super rosemary chicken dinner, all volunteers, all organizers, all businesses who donated goods and services, and all cooks who brought yummy soups, goodies, etc.

It was a super and productive weekend!