Sewing Retreat 2008

The ASG Houston Chapter had its annual retreat this weekend. Instead of a time of quiet reflection on the meaning of life, 25 women spent the weekend laughing, sewing, eating, sharing and, in general, having a great time. I do not know of any other group with the diversity displayed this weekend. All types were represented - rich and poor, tall and short. young and old, brilliant and dull, conservative and liberal, and all shades in between each of these extremes.

There was a woman who spent most of the weekend assembling incredibly complex kalidescope type quilt tops. Another spent the weekend constructing her spring wardrobe. And then there was one woman who made a huge number of anti-ouch pouches for those recovering from breast cancer surgery ... which is the ASG community service project for the annual conference in July. I even had a chance to share with the group three fun projects - the five fat quater grocery bag, the Japanese market bag and the overall apron.

Through it all there was a lot of sharing of sewing knowledge, numerous efforts to create origami style jackets and so much laughter that, at one point, my sides were hurting. I was especially moved by the number of women asking about my Dad's health. Although some of us see each other regularly, one of the attendees only comes to the retreat and I would miss her if she didn't show up. We even had someone attend who had been an ASG member for only two weeks and I am looking forward to seeng the jacket she was working on all weekend finished. A highlight of the weekend was a huge donation of fabric from a member who used to be a costumer for a small renaissance festival. Needless to say I came home with a few yards of fabric that will be featured in up-coming projects without, I hope, becoming UFOs.

I have participated in similar actvities for other groups but none of them compare to this retreat with a group of sewers. Yes, we have different levels of expertise, different skills, different projects, different backgrounds and different outlooks on life but it seems to me that we are the most most united in our committment to supporting each other, sharing our knowledge and giving back to the community. I couldn't have asked for more from this experience and I hope you get the opportunity to experience this type of comraderie at least once in your life.

There were a couple of sour notes amongst all of this fun and games... I did not get either of the quilts quilted and I came home with almost no voice! I didn't get the quilts quilted because I stupidly brought the wrong feet for the sewing machine I brought with me. I lost my voice to a middle of the night coughing session from some allergan. Despite these set backs I had a great time and look forward to next year's retreat.