For one weekend each year in February, we quilters get to “getaway” to The Bertram Inn and Conference Center in beautiful, downtown Aurora, Ohio. We plan for this all year as we dream of being away from our husbands, kids, and all of the attendant responsibilities associated therewith. We spend our weekend enjoying our friends, learning new sewing techniques, eating our meals together, and even getting a massage….if we are so inclined.
The quilt getaway event is sponsored by the North Eastern Ohio Regional Quilt Council (NEORQC), an organization that meets four times a year and is made up of quilt guilds from 22 counties from our part of Ohio. Any quilter who belongs to a member guild can attend the weekend event. Pay up front!! No refunds if it snows!! And we all gladly pay.
At the core of the getaway is a “Quilt Challenge.” Quilters are given advanced notice of a theme, and have their efforts judged that weekend. Cash prizes are awarded on Saturday night. This year’s theme was “My Quilted Garden.” This year’s first place ribbon went to Donna Gaier, a member of our local affiliate, the TQ Quilt Guild of Canfield. Donna’s entry was an art quilt which was hand painted and embellished with miscellaneous flowers and fibers. A former member of our Canfield group, Rene Norman, won best of show. Rene now lives in Michigan, and presented a garden quilt entry made completely from wool with an extraordinary amount of handwork.
In addition to the challenge, various classes are offered to allow us to hone our skills. Packing light is not an option as attendees are required to bring all of the accoutrement with them, including sewing machines, thread, fabric, scissors, and anything else you might need for your stitching amusement.
This year’s highlights? There was the unnamed lady who made herself right at home, jammies and all, in the room, in the hallway, in the ballroom. And let’s not forget Sue Bell’s garden hat, filled with dangling corks. We will be polite and not ask her what she had to drink, and how much of it, to get so many corks….but it certainly is a novel way to keep the flies away!!!!
By the end of the weekend, we have all made new friends, learned something worthwhile, exchanged email address so we can share information with each other, and leave looking forward to next year.
The quilt getaway event is sponsored by the North Eastern Ohio Regional Quilt Council (NEORQC), an organization that meets four times a year and is made up of quilt guilds from 22 counties from our part of Ohio. Any quilter who belongs to a member guild can attend the weekend event. Pay up front!! No refunds if it snows!! And we all gladly pay.
At the core of the getaway is a “Quilt Challenge.” Quilters are given advanced notice of a theme, and have their efforts judged that weekend. Cash prizes are awarded on Saturday night. This year’s theme was “My Quilted Garden.” This year’s first place ribbon went to Donna Gaier, a member of our local affiliate, the TQ Quilt Guild of Canfield. Donna’s entry was an art quilt which was hand painted and embellished with miscellaneous flowers and fibers. A former member of our Canfield group, Rene Norman, won best of show. Rene now lives in Michigan, and presented a garden quilt entry made completely from wool with an extraordinary amount of handwork.
In addition to the challenge, various classes are offered to allow us to hone our skills. Packing light is not an option as attendees are required to bring all of the accoutrement with them, including sewing machines, thread, fabric, scissors, and anything else you might need for your stitching amusement.
This year’s highlights? There was the unnamed lady who made herself right at home, jammies and all, in the room, in the hallway, in the ballroom. And let’s not forget Sue Bell’s garden hat, filled with dangling corks. We will be polite and not ask her what she had to drink, and how much of it, to get so many corks….but it certainly is a novel way to keep the flies away!!!!
By the end of the weekend, we have all made new friends, learned something worthwhile, exchanged email address so we can share information with each other, and leave looking forward to next year.
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