I met a lot of wonderful ladies. Quite a few were Beginner quilters like myself.
It was an Exciting time & every meeting had a learning curve.
One lady I met was "ELEANOR PASTIC" a machine quilter who liked curved piecing.
I was a puritanical Hand quilter, who used traditional blocks to showcase my artsy designs.
We didn't seem to have much in common, & it was Not an instant friendship.
We were attending (separately) the "Canadian Quilt Association" retreat.
The finger of Fate mixed up our designated room mates & we ended up together.
It changed our lives forever...for the better.
We chatted until 4am ( class started in a few hours!!!)
Our lives paralleled on many levels & knew many of the same people in business.
The following evenings were the same - a little sleep & going to class tired - LOL
It didn't matter, we found out we were "Soul Mates"
Over the years we became quite close.
It wasn't just about quilting, it was on a real Personal level as well.
I grew up without a mother after the age of ten.
We were so close Eleanor offered to fill that void.
When there were problems in each of our lives, the other stepped in.
We were fortunate enough to live 10 minutes apart.
Often times we would squeeze into Eleanor's quilt room to cut fabric.
Or we would haul our work downstairs to work on her dining table.
Even when Eleanor moved, we spoke on the phone a few times a week.
We would meet almost every month for a Lunch date!
Eleanor & I began to explore more "Artsy" quilt interests.
Realism, portraits & animals became our new direction in quilting.
We took many courses, bought books & watch the Quilt Art shows.
Many discussions were about our next Fabulous quilt - LOL
Eleanor became sew involved that she entered 2 quilts for Quilt Canada competition.
It was NO surprise to anyone that BOTH quilts took home ribbons.
The "FROG" quilt & her "SUNSET" quilt were both 1st in their division.
Eleanor's inspiration was photographs her husband GEORGE had taken.
George was quite ill for the last few years, & Eleanor cared for him 24/7.
It was hard to watch their health trials after being married Happily for over 60 years.
The Ultimate Sadness was Eleanor and George passed away a week apart in Nov 2014
But at least they were together for their next journey ~ they will be missed!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My nest blog will be to share with you some of the Quilts made by ELEANOR PASTIC
I know you will enjoy them & be amazed at her incredible talent.
I will leave you with a picture of my Dear friend Eleanor and I @ one of our Lunch dates!!!
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