Musings from Point Bonita

Thursday, I visited Point Bonita during the annual quilters' getaway. I went at the invitation of Sue Friedland, the textile artist who will be teaching abstract textile painting -- and incorporating walking meditation on the beach as well as sitting meditation to inspire our artwork -- at my new Cabo area rental property in Mexico in March. I got to see some quilt friends I hadn't seen in eons, like Sally, and recent ones like Allie, Pat, and Tracy, and meet other tremendously interesting women. I got to see the final night's show and tell! The visit triggered a lot of random thoughts . . .

Ah, the inner child loves going to a YMCA camp at the ocean's edge so much that the adult will put up with bunk beds and communal bathrooms with pleasure!

Other than retreats and workshops like Asilomar that people committed to pre-crash, will anyone be going on quilt getaways in these days of dire economics with little chance of a quick recovery? These PB women have gone annually for up to 29 years. I think they'll find the means to continue.

Is this a year for many to hunker down and get creative at home, with local friends, using mostly what's stashed away?

But if business is slow, is it perhaps a great time to take time off and rekindle our creativity? And costs are lower because rents are reduced and jet fuel is cheaper.

Is "keeping the calendar white," as Allie talked about, a goal for me, even for a couple of days a week? or hours a day?

Could I have as much satisfaction doing "precision" piecemaking as I have with looser composition techniques? Hmmm, might try with some blocks for a Christmas quilt project I started a few years ago.

Who is going to join Sue and me in Mexico? If no one signs up, should we just drive down and have fun by ourselves or with a couple of others? Can we find local women who would like our workshop, who don't need to travel and get housing to attend? If we schedule it for later so participants could pay a little each month, would that work better for people? It will be so much fun -- and Sue's techniques and what she produces are so usable and unusual -- I don't want to let this go. The 5-year-old daughter of the resident YMCA staffer painted a quilt with Sue this week, and Sue quilted it. Little Andrea presented it at Show and Tell and it was a huge hit!