Feeling the need to explain to my colleague and APLA faculty member who helped organize the event and who quilts regularly, I stopped her in the hallway and explained to her that I had stopped quilting about four years ago. I explained, holding back tears in my throat, that I hadn't felt like quilting since my friend who taught me so much about quilting and with whom I quilted everyday died suddenly in September 2008. It is too painful, I protested.
She looked directly in my eyes and said we've got to get you back on the machine. The 2013 Lake Martin Quilt Workshop and Festival was born.
My other quilting BFF, Kim and I have had the idea since we bought our lake place. Now, it was going to happen. We organized a schedule of events, meals, and of course wine at sunset to take place over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Since several of the women we invited learned to quilt at a Gees Bend workshop, it was the perfect way to honor them and Dr. King. It also happened to be our dear deceased friend Cindy Wall's birthday week. Perfect.
It was a mixed group of women. Some seasoned designers who learned from Gees Bend and wanted to learn contemporary quilting techniques, quilters who wanted to learn from the design professionals, and designers who were learning to quilt for the first time. We had some women who came for fellowship and shared old beautiful family quilts. Our dear friend who is a fiber artist came to show some of her creations.
It was a perfect time. My love of quilting is re-born.
Click on this image to see pictures of the weekend:
