Pinetree Quilters Guild of Muskoka welcomed us
A visit to the Bracebridge Pinetree Quilters Guild of Muskoka was in the cards this past week. Weather played a bit of havoc with some of our travel plans but all in all, it was a great getaway with a terrific group of ladies.
Kathy, my sister-in-law has a cottage in Kearney, Ontario near Huntsville, and we decided we’d stay there even though it is a bit of a drive to Bracebridge from her area. With the van packed, after my Sewing Café class, I pointed the vehicle north to reach cottage country at day’s end.
Trunk Show Presentation
The guild chose my Quilting In China trunk show as the presentation for their meeting. It’s a slide presentation about my 2014 and 2015 travels representing Canada at a huge textile trade show in China. We also show quilts and bags along with the slides. After all, we are tactile, textile types.
I must admit, it’s tremendously interesting and entertaining and the positive response of the 100+ member guild reaffirms my own (totally unbiased!) review. If you haven’t had a chance to see this presentation at your guild give it some consideration.
Local restaurant in Bracebridge
I always treat Kathy to a great meal while away – she offers her time for free. And with recommendations from Donna Naylor and Joyce MacKay, the program co-chairs as well as the caretaker of the arena where we spoke, we bowed to popular opinion and dined at the local Mexican eatery called El Pueblito. A Huntsville native and his charming Mexican wife own the restaurant. She even invited us to Salsa dancing there the following evening. But I didn’t think we’d have much Cha, Cha, Cha left in us after a day of teaching.
The main dishes and desserts were to die for. Kathy had Pescado del Dia (fish of the day) and I had Empanadas, a filled corn tortilla covered with fresh salad, queso fresco, salsa verde and cilantro.
Everything Goes Bag Class
The following day we held our Everything Goes Bag Class. The Everything Goes Bag is a perfect travel bag. It has double padded shoulder straps, two outer pockets for tissue, car keys and lipstick and inside there are two e-reader pockets, a security pocket and a divided pocket for your cell phone. Plus it’s totally zipped up at the top. The bag fits into the space under the seat in an aircraft.
Together, Kathy and I do most of the legwork in class by doing the pressing for our students. If we eliminate all the getting up and down involved in pressing that the students have to do, we get the bag made by the end of class. That’s a bit of running around for us with 11 students, but well worth it when we see big smiles at the end of class.
One friend of the girls stopped in at the end of the day and her response on seeing a finished bag was ‘You got that done in one day?” You bet!
Snow and a bit of shopping
Snow was starting to fall later that afternoon but not enough to stop us from enjoying another tasty meal at a local Italian restaurant. Our plan was to start for home the following day and to stop again in Huntsville to visit an annual Christmas Craft show.
But what to our surprise met our eyes the next morning but 6″ of heavy wet snow that had taken out the hydro. With a couple of cups of water left in the kettle we made some tea, ate some cereal and got out of Dodge.
You may have heard about my Tie One On Apron Club, where club members make an apron every month for a year. Aprons are all the rage right now. Fiona’s booth at the craft show was doing very good business. She had some really cute models made for gals as well as superhero aprons, like her Wonder Woman apron with matching headwear for the kids.
Having finished up our Christmas craft shopping we carefully drove south down the icy highway to find everything still green in Southwestern Ontario. But, I can’t say the same today -the snow is currently dancing a merry jig outside my window. Must be time to put up the Christmas decorations!
Suggest a class or trunk show to your local shop or guild
Want to suggest a trunk show to your guild? There’s more information here.
Hi Brenda:
Glad you made it home safely – who would have thought so much snow in early November! The “trunk show” was thoroughly enjoyed by the PTQGM members and the “Everything Goes Bag” workshop was fantastic! I still cannot believe that we finished the bags – all the “running and pressing” you and Kathy did certainly helped us go home with a completed project! Hopefully all 11 quilters will bring their bags to “show & tell” in December! Thanks again to you and Kathy!
And what a great group you all were. If possible line up those gals and get somebody to take a picture for me! I will pass on your thanks to Kathy. It was lovely visiting, speaking and teaching!