Pat C has been the subject of an earlier (very early!) entry, and today she is the reason behind as well as part of this entry. Through her, my special group of women friends, have met Theresa (Pat's mom) and Theresa's sisters, and assorted others. If I counted right (and it was hard to do because these ladies do NOT sit still for counting purposes!) the Sisters' Group were 8 altogether, we were 4, L and J were 2, the shifting group behind me (whom I couldn't see so they played games to confuse me) were either 4 or 7 depending on when I looked, David (the host and superior chef and quilt holder extraordinaire), and two young ladies-in-waiting. So depending on when you were trying to count there were possibly 21 or 24 or 32 or 12. Well, I never was very good at math. It was a large group.
The purpose of this gathering was for the Sisters' Group to have a Show and Tell of all their creations since the last meeting and in particular to show off their Challenge quilt. Knowing I was in for a treat, I took a front row position on the floor where I could see very well. I knew these women were prolific, but there is no way I was prepared for the sheer volume of glory I would see. The first lady showed what I thought were going to be 3, many 4 quilts. I was wrong. I think she had 10 (of which maybe 8 were applique). The next lady showed us 15, and the next one had 25, and the next had 40, and the next - well, you get the picture. Among the 8 women in the Sisters' Group there were enough quilts to show at Proctor's Theater! Prolific doesn't even begin to encompass the work these women do.
But as special as their quilts were (and I didn't take photos but Karen did so do check her blog!), the beauty, excellent workmanship, and number of quilts is not really the subject of this entry. Once again, I was most impressed by the community of women. Yes, these were mostly sisters and probably had been raised to love one another, but more than that, these women liked each other. They truly admired what the others had created, they admired, they were actively aware of everything that went on, and as I said earlier, they didn't sit still for more than a moment. Best of all, the laughter, oh, my, the sheer joy of being together. These are vibrant women, who use everything they can, throw nothing away, give to others, and share their knowledge willingly.
This was a time for them, yet each and everyone of the Sisters' Group and all others who were an integral part of this gathering, welcomed the rest of us whole heartedly. We could have been an imposition, taking up their special time, intruding on a family, but they never let us feel that way. The Sisters' Group of women opened their arms to the others of us who were there and made us all one community.
Now, that's power.
Wonder what their adoption policy is?
You know, we should ask Pat what the adoption policy is. I know I would be the slow quilting sister - but that's OK. You can feel the love and friendship with all of them and it was fantastic. If everyone in the world could be part of something like this, whether it be quilting, scrapbooking, knitting, fixing old cars, whatever, this world would truly be a better place!
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