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Featured Satellite Group ~
Monday Night Bowling League |
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In 1984, Laura
Reinstatler and Mary Hickey gathered together a 'satellite'
group of Quilters Anonymous members who began meeting on
alternate Monday nights in Laura's basement. The
original members consisted of Laura, Mary, Joanne Gove, Vickie
McKenney, Sharon Yenter, Diane Coombs, Nancy J. Martin, Marsha
McCloskey, Sara Nephew, Cleo Nollette, Joan Hanson, Carolann
Palmer, Judy Pollard, Marilyn Reardon, Heki Hendrickson, Liz
Thoman, Joanne Starr and Susan Everett.
Show and tell
sessions were a primary feature, while members worked on their
current projects. Support and critique of each member's
work has always been given freely and never have more than
three member of the group been in agreement on any topic,
quilting or otherwise. |
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| The
group did suggest that QA sponsor a retreat and the first
retreat at Camp Huston was planned by Laura Reinstatler and
Nancyann Twelker. |
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The Monday Night
Bowling League name originated at an ice cream party, held
outside Diane Coomb's shop. Several members of the group
belonged to a sewing circle that didn't sew, so it was
suggested that this group could be a bowling league that
didn't bowl. Bowling balls continue to have a prominent
place at meetings. Often one is hidden at an
unsuspecting hostess' house. Bowling balls have graced
Christmas party tables as candleholders and served as garden
art. |
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| Monday
Night Bowling League Members have come and gone over the
years, as their quilting styles and activities have changed.
Many of the bowlers are authors and publishers, so it is not
unusual for others in the group to make sample quilts or test
patterns for upcoming books. |
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Friendship and
support have always been the backbone of this group, so
wedding quilts, cancer quilts and others have been made when
joy or comfort needed to be expressed. Each year
there's a summer picnic at Joan Hanson's Whidbey Island cabin,
a hot tub party at Sara Nephew's house and a Christmas party,
the highlight of which is a rough-and-tumble gift exchange
with Julie Stewart enforcing the rules and settling all
disputes. |
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Joan Dawson has
kept the roster and email list up to date and schedules
meetings. Mary Hickey provides a generous splash of
humor, especially when she does her famous Mrs. Bufforpington
imitation. Each member is a valued contributor, whether
a beginner quilter or a seasoned professional. The
threads of friendship have held strong through the years. |
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Current members include; Laurie Bevan, Diane Coombs,
Lisa Cope, Pam Cope, Joan Dawson, Judy Eide, Susan Everett,
Joan Hanson, Mary Hickey, Carol Hill, Jean Look-Krischano,
Nancy J. Martin, Marsha McCloskey, Suzanne Nelson, Sara
Nephew, Cleo Nollette, Carolann Palmer, Pam Pifer, Judy
Pollard, Laura Reinstatler, Terri Shinn and Julie Stewart. |
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How Sunbonnet
Sue Became a Bowler |
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| The
Monday Night Bowling League had been getting
together for quite a few years and had never made a
group project. Several bowlers had seen the
play "The Quilters" and particularly enjoyed the
part about the demise of Sunbonnet Sue (especially
Carolann, who made a whole quilt of Sunbonnet Sue
blocks). Nancy Martin suggested the Bowlers
make a "Sunbonnet Sue Goes Bowling" quilt and see
how much trouble Sue could get herself into hanging
around at the bowling alley. |
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| We
started making blocks and at each meeting, a few
more showed up. We never specified a block
size, so they ended up being a variety of shapes and
sized. Margaret Miller moved to the area and
joined the group at about this time and bailed us
out by masterfully arranging the different-sized
blocks into one of her blockbuster designs.
And because she felt responsible for getting the
whole project started in the first place, Nancy
Martin had the piece quilted. |
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| It was
featured in an article about the group in
Quilting Today magazine (Issue No. 25, 1991) and
exhibited in 1992 at the Spring Quilt Market in
Kansas City. |
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