Sharing a love for quilting with other family members is extra-special. It makes for a great outing to Road to California for some family quilt bonding time.
Cousins Cookie and Joyce live in Los Angeles. They have been coming to Road together for over 20 years. They book a room at the Residence Inn and stay for four days. “It’s our annual retreat” for some family quilt bonding time. While Cookie says she has been “playing” at quilting for the past 10 years, Joyce has been seriously quilting for 20. Joyce learned to quilt after trying to figure out how her mother quilted. Today, Joyce quilts for enjoyment and to honor her heritage. She comes to Road to California to “get away from home” and “to be motivated.” She likes to meet other quilters, learn about new quilt products, and find fabric that she doesn’t usually see. Cookie finds that coming to Road energizes her to get back to quilting. When she isn’t quilting, she also has interests in ceramics, fused glass, and beading. Cookie also has over 600 Barbies that she collects. “Road inspires me with all my art interests.”
These three sisters – Tassie, Linda and Marianne – plus their friend Cheryl (who is just like a sister), are artisans that work together on themed projects. Linda and Cheryl are “quilters extraordinaire,” Tassie does cross- stitching, and Marianne likes to embellish fabric using buttons. They were looking for their next group project for family quilt bonding at Road 2020 as well as enjoyed seeing all the “beautiful” quilts.
Ten-year Road to California attendees, these sisters didn’t let Cancer get in the way of their family quilt bonding time. They were interested in researching new projects and finding things they didn’t have yet. For the past 8 months, Brenda has been being treated for Periteneal Cancer- cancer of the stomach lining. She started quilting after she retired in 20013. Jeri learned to quilt from a friend at her work. Both Brenda and Jeri’s first quilts were patterns from Eleanor Burns’ Quilt in a Day. Quilting has kept Brenda going through her chemotherapy treatments. “I’m not ready to die yet—I have too many quilts yet to make.”
Each year for 5 years my cousin Annabelle has flown in from Reno Nevada to come to Road. I have been coming to Road since the very beginning. Annabelle is rather new to quilting. Even though I live about 20 minutes from the convention center, we get a room at one of the hotels near the center. So we get to spend 3-4 days together taking classes and of course going to the convention.
We call ourselves twins. We were born on the same day, same year, and the same state. Annabelle’s mother and my father were brother and sister. She is my cousin and one of my best friends.
What a wonderful story!!! So glad you ladies pick Road to California as your destination to get together. See you next year!!!