Quilters ABC

This past weekend was full of reminders about why quilting feeds my soul. Our bi-annual quilting retreat is a time to escape from the time pressures of daily life and allow ourselves the luxury of immersing ourselves fully in the creative flow.

When reflecting upon the retreat, I think of the basics that brought me to quilting in the first place and so I share my thoughts in the form of the Quilters ABC.

QA could stand for Quilters Anonymous - you might be surprised how many quilters describe the quilting bug as an addiction. Like any other addiction, a support group is helpful in dealing with our issues... although in this case, the objective is not to eliminate the addictive substance from our lives as much as it is to encourage us to accomplish our quilting goals (and twelve steps is more likely to describe pattern instructions or a complicated technique...or the distance from the sewing maching to the ironing board or snack table!)

QB harks back to the traditional quilting bee, where women gathered around the quilt frame to work together and share stories about their lives. Although each of us brings our own projects to the retreat rather than working on one common project, we still share stories over the buzz of the sewing machines or across the table at meals. We compare notes on parenting and grandparenting, marriage and friendship, vacations, sports, entertainment and just about any other topic you can think of under the sun. (The "B" might also signify the opportunity to "be all that you can be" as we learn from each other.)

QC is an abbreviation we use to represent the province of Quebec; along with all the other topics listed above, politics do come into the discussion from time to time, particularly in an election year with an uncertain outcome. However, I prefer to think of the "C" representing the sense of connection and community that comes from belonging to a quilting group like a guild. This is further strengthened by sharing with members of other guilds when we attend a retreat together, coming together to share our different approaches and backgrounds with a common and mutually beneficial purpose. (Maybe we could use a bit more of that in our province as well!)