43
Quilting guild has annual getaway
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the centerpieces made for the Northeast Ohio Regional Quilt Council was Gidget the Gadget Quilter. The NEORQC weekend getaway was hosted at the Boardman Holiday Inn on Feb. 19-21.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the guests stitched a purse to show for her Show and Tell. There were other projects that the guests made that weren't quilts.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Guests of the NEORQC weekend getaway were able to show off their finished projects after their dinner. There were several Show and Tells available for guests to show off their work.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The Northeast Regional Quilt Guild hosted its annual Getaway Weekend at the Holiday Inn in Boardman on Feb. 19-21.
Northeast Ohio Regional Quilt Council, better known as NEORQC, is an association of quilt guilds in Northeast Ohio that is dedicated to keeping the quilting tradition alive. The weekend consists of classes, shopping, lectures, displays and show and tells.
The theme of the weekend was “Stitching with Attitude.”
NEORQC was established more than 20 years ago and is a 5013C organization. They focus on sharing information on quilting with members and the public. There are programs that are funded by membership fees that help give back to the community.
“We just don’t want quilting to die because we didn’t teach them,” said Marie Ralston, president of NEORQC.
Guests who attended the weekend getaway had the opportunity to take classes and learn new techniques, show off their projects and continue working on current projects. There were around 100 attendees, eight teachers and three vendors. The getaway happens once per year, Friday through Sunday, and usually attracts about 100 guests.
The guests said nothing but good things about the Boardman Holiday Inn and how much they were willing to compromise and work with the guests. There were people on hand to sharpen tools for the guests and help fix machines.
The event was put together with a lot of teamwork. Barb King helped with sponsorship, while Jan Hittle handled the registrar and helped get all of the communications to the guests.
“I would say more than half of our people come because they enjoy the social camaraderie with their friends and the quilting hobby itself provides that for them. It gives them a reason to come together to enjoy being with friends or other quilters,” said Ralston.
The were centerpieces made by Nonie McDevitt, a member of the quilting guild, and other volunteers. The centerpieces were dolls that each had their own attitude about stitching. There was an unfinished quilter, a Gidget the Gadget quilter, a Nanny Granny quilter and more. At the end of the weekend, the centerpieces were given away as prizes.
“For us to come and sit here and touch and look at it, it’s like a little child in a candy shop. That’s how we are with fabric, we love the colors and touching it,” said Ralston.