A Gaggle of Ladies' Aid Quilters: A Wonky Quilt Time

 An original prose poem written by Michele Bilyeu of this blog With Heart and Hands using the names of traditional quilt patterns to describe what actually occurred during her quilting group's visit to the Zion Mennonite Quilting Workshop/Quilt Show in 2007.

All rights reserved and common copyright applies. Please link to it quoting only the first paragraph  with ...a hyperlink to the post itself at: A Gaggle of Ladies' Aid Quilters: A Wonky Quilt Time

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"A gaggle of Ladies Aid quilters put on their Party Hats grabbed a Mariner's Compass, loaded up in a 12 passenger van and headed off on a Snail's Trail, to Hubbard, Oregon to attend the 35th annual Zion Mennonite Quilt Show. There isn't anything that could be more fun then a group of Wonky women off on a Flying Geese Chase following their Yellow Brick Road and teetotaling down a Drunkard's Path to find their way through the Backwoods and Crossroads, past the Clover Leaf of the Washington Puzzle , avoiding the Way to California and finally going....as Providence would have it, up the Altar Steps to A Dandy quilt show.

We made a Churn Dash through their Endless Chain of Rail Fences up their Pleasant Path from the parking lot to the Mennonite Church. We braved the wind and the rain of the incoming Storm at Sea and fought our way to the front door. It was a regular Dollar Day at the Races...in a Whirlwind of Frenzy we made one Wild Goose Chase after another trying to find our ways down hallways and corridors to see everything. We Criss Crossed our way through the Walking Squares and Log Cabins and did a Fiddler's Jig as we discovered the antique hand pieced Stashbusters, everywhere.

We were Strolling the Block down one corridor, when we saw the ladies serving up a nice lunch of soup with Corn and Beans and biscuits with butter. Each of us donated a Five Spot, except one of us, who carried her little baggie of Chinese Coins :) We sat at a Table for Four with our heads Tete a Tete and with Eight Hands Round, we watched a Farmer's Daughter as she served up two choices of homemade soup. It was Marion's Choice to have the Tortellini and Mary's Own for the Turkey Noodle. The rest of us followed like a Fool's Square.

The joyous colors and intricate patterns of the Crazy Quilts which surrounded us, lifted our Depression, buried our Indian Hatchets of disagreements from the drive, and Best of All, our lunch on its Broken Dishes , (except for one Dresden Plate) made us Rally Round once more. Our Cups and Saucers of tea and coffee and old fashioned carrot cake from the Cake Stand, brought back a Memory of Days Gone By, and the Card Tricks we all played as we looked through our grandma's Attic Windows at Grandmother's Flower Garden, the Birds in the Air, the Fox and the Geese, the Hovering Hawks, and the Girl's Favorite...climbing down the Vines at the Window to Jacob's Ladder to the Lucky Clover, we used to find in the lawns.

Our conversations created an Album of Memories to tuck into our Flower Baskets as we watched one strange woman who touched a quilt right by the "Please, don't touch the quilts!" sign. We headed back out in the rain to the parking lot. After other drivers threw in a few Monkey Wrenches,with one Handy Andy in a Double Necktie after another dropping off his wife and creating a Crazy House of conflicting Pathways. It was a Leap Frog of cars parking and leaving at once with one Toad in a Puddle almost causing a parking lot casualty.

But it was all Fair Play as we played Darting Minnows and Focus Pocus and managed to escape the Fishbowl. We played Follow the Leader and felt like Best Friends as we continued our Pleasant Path and shopped at several fabric stores on the way home. We had A Dandy time as we watched the Evening Star, in the Night Sky behind the Delectable Mountains and headed on our Wild Goose Tracks....Back Home Again to Salem.

It was a Whirligig of a Windmill day, but we had lovely Souvenirs from shopping like Crazy Loons with Blurred Vision. As we formed one last Friendship Circle of goodbyes, we headed back to Hearth and Home and many Sweet Dreams.

There isn't anything that could be more fun then a group of Wonky women off on a Flying Geese chase.... especially when embarking on a Trip Around the World in one day at a Hubbard, Oregon Zion Mennonite Quilt Show!

©With Heart and Hands 2007
Michele M. Bilyeu , Salem OR

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