The Talk Temari/TemariKai NY
Stitchin played its annual gig on April 20-22, 2007.... record
breaker this year with 26 people registered to come representing five
countries (US, UK, Canada, Cyprus and Sweden) and 20 states of the US
(ME, MA, CT, PA, NY, MI, OH, GA, AL, AR, TN, NC, KY, AZ, WI, CA, IN,
LA, TX, VA). Unfortunately we had one missed plane and three medical
burps; these four folks were deeply missed.... the rest
stitched on. With the group growing as much as it has, logistical
arrangements had to be reconsidered; the main event on Saturday was
held at the Marriott
Residence Inn/Poughkeepsie, and we offer much thanks to them for
their use of facilities and kind considerations. Everyone agrees that
if
we can't be here at the the house - that's the place to be (even my two
cockapoos got to join in Saturday!). The Committee still bunks at the
house but the rest of the StitchIn-ers have the far better deal - they
get the pool and hot tub! We had 8 First-Years this year.... and
14 alums. As a special treat, Hairy was able to
join us as well... he had special guarded travel arrangements since he
was flying as an unaccompanied temari.
Friday night still started here
at the house with a picnic supper, and getting a chance to view photos
of a local temari exhibition from Japan. Next was a rather popular time
- the distribution
of this year's "Bag". It has become tradition to have a commemorative
tote made for the weekend; this year we broke ranks a bit and went with
the concept of a stitching kit (adorable miniature red duffles) rather
than larger totes, and judging by
the squeals of glee when they were given out and number that were
already in use by Saturday it apparently was a good idea. Of course,
the bags do not come empty; The NY Stitchin was once
again very well blessed with sponsors, and our deep gratitude go to the
following companies (in no particular order) for their gifts in kind
(be it for goodie bag stuffers and/or door prizes): Olympus Threads Japan via EmmaCreation;
Sophia
Books, Vancouver BC Canada; Kreinik
Mfg. Co; Rainbow Gallery
Threads; Madeira USA; Hand-Dyed Fibers/Victoria
Clayton. I offer deep thanks to these companies; all of them have
been supporting the Stitchin for multiple years and in some cases,
since the very first one. The inspiration provided through the fibers
or materials they provide always gets the new ideas flowing. Please
consider their support when you go thread-shopping.
The Stitchin Temari Swap served
nicely as our "get to know you" time: names were randomly drawn and the
previous person presented their temari to the next, while introducing
themselves to the group along with where they were from, how long they
have been making temari and how long they have been a part of Talk
Temari (we had a record number of "charter" members this year,
going back to when TT was being run out of my email address book in
1998). After a dessert break, it was time to put everyone out of their
agony and get the much-anticipated TemariKai Trivia Quiz out of the
way.... we wound up the evening in time to get
everyone
back to the hotel to check in, unwind, have some social time and
get some sleep - Saturday had a 9am sharp "call to needles".
Saturday's time was held in the Library
of the Residence Inn, given it's wonderful large windows for natural
light. The project for the day was the StitchIn
Smörgåsbord....
everyone had provided a prepped mari in advance which they got back in
their Temari Take Out containers complete with the SS Combination
Temari Menu. Modeled on a "combo dinner platter" with choosing one from
Column
A, one from Column B and one from Column C (minimum), the idea was to
get us all thinking about being creative in our temari designs in
addition to replicating traditional ones. After a brief period where
mutiny was a major threat, everyone started to settle in and realize
that gee, it just might work. Having the chance to interact with
everyone (this was far from a "closed book test" - the objective was to
share, look, listen, ask, be inspired, etc by those around you....)
gave us all a good day of getting creative juices flowing, and see how
they flow in others.
Interspersed in there were some special
happenings. Last year gave me the wonderful fortune of being introduced
to
and invited to join our local Japanese Community Association. I've made
wonderful friends, and they have been terrifically supportive. Yoko-san
and Moto-san agreed to come visit and share with us about wearing
kimono (Yoko-san and I had been talking about it back in the fall, but
when they both arrived to the MHJCA New Year Party in gorgeous kimono,
I drafted Moto-san too!). It was a wonderful experience to see close
up, be able to ask questions (within reason!) and hear the changes in
kimono traditions. Yoko-san brought books to show us the very
traditional methods; we were dumbfounded to see and hear now that her
gorgeous "modern" kimono was in fact a two-piece outfit (and believe
me, it is
stunning) which allows a bit more ease of wear and care in today's
world (to the untrained eye you would never know....). Moto-san's
kimono were passed down to him from his father, and
both the one he had worn to the New Year Party (in January, so it was
wool) and the one he wore to show us were 80 years old or more. Hearing
the stories from them both about how it used to be to get dressed, and
then wear them let alone the care needed for them (they need to be
taken apart to be cleaned) brought a new founded
respect and fascination about kimono to everyone in the room. Yoko-san
and Moto-san stayed with us for lunch (as did Kaye S, who was the
lunch-runner :>) ) - and joined us for this years Class Photo (Kaye
kindly served as the photographer).
After lunch and a stretch break, it was
Yankee Swap time. Another StitchIn tradition, we had to whack the first
part off for time considerations but that was not a problem. Kaye
temporarily changed her name to Lynn, so that she played for one of our
folks that did not make it for being under the weather but had sent all
of her "toys". Everyone is to bring a wrapped gift (no names) and it
should be something to do with temari or temari making. With everyone
gathered around at table (ok, three tables) with a gift randomly in
front of them, a pair of dice are sent around and each person rolled;
if a 7 came up the gifts were all shifted one to the left. If an 11 is
rolled, they all shift 3 to the right. When the timer goes off (about
ten minutes), the gift you have in front of you is the one you receive
to keep and open. All was fine except we spent about the first 8 of the
ten minutes with no 7 or 11 coming up - none of us had ever seen
anything like it. Things did heat up a bit though and much shifting did
manage to occur. When all is said and done, each person opens their
package for everyone to ooh and ahh.. and the giver fesses up. We
continued to stitch, and the rest of the afternoon also was Show and
Tell. Because of the larger number of stitchers this year, we had to
limit to ten minutes per person but, everyone still had a good chance
to shine in the spotlight while everyone else went hoarse with the oohs
and ahhs, and the camera flashes looked like the paparazzi had moved
in.
Everyone had a little bit of free time
before supper and then reconvened for eats (not that we were not eating
all day.... there was an ongoing munchie table with lots of
goodies from lots of places). Five stitchers came with their hubbies to
make a weekend or more of it.... and four of them joined us for
dinner (the fifth one chickened out joining in but did get to sample
dinner with a "take out" plate). After dinner it was door prize time,
and then dessert. That had
been usurped from me early on in the planning, since we had three
decade birthdays this year (me -Ginny, Nicole and Elsie). A
triple-shared birthday cake topped things off for the evening. We then
had a quick tour of what everyone had come up with on their Temari
Combo Platter and much to most folks' amazement, they really can chug
out designs using the basic stitching elements. Everyone was going home
to continue and finish their temari with the hope that photos will come
in to share. It's also been great to hear that even after everyone went
home, they carried an appreciation of the challenge and realized that
they did learn and enjoy from it. Since we had two ladies that had to
make trains or long
drives Saturday evening, we were able to pull things to an early close
for the formal festivities. Those staying till Sunday had a relaxing
evening to socialize and catch up with folks that we only get to see
once a year, and the First-Years were busy deepening those new
friendships. Hairy had fun making eyes at Nurse Matilda Mari....
Matilda was dispatched to me after coming home from the hospital a few
weeks before the Stitchin to be sure I followed doctor's orders. And -
Stitch came to his first Stitchin.... carrying his application to
become the official Temari NY Mascot.
Sunday morning came too fast - we
gathered informally for brunch at the Residence and then the limos and
cars started departing all too quickly. Some folks were overnighting
till Monday because of travel logistics, but the goodbyes were flowing
fast and furious on Sunday morning. Several folks left Poughkeepsie to
continue their travels, others departed for home directly. Everyone is
tucked in safe and sound (least we think so, we haven't heard yet if
Tina socked Jack before they got home to Arkansas - driving....:>))
with one couple continuing their three week vacation on to San
Francisco and then Tokyo.
It seems so hard to believe that
another year is tucked into the memories.... 8 months of planning
seems to evaporate so, so fast in the space of 72 hours. While every
year I am deeply indebted to the "committee" that, between them, come
early and stay late to help me make it all happen, this year is even
more so given the health issues that smacked me in the face in late
February. Continuing on with the Stitchin this year was a given only
because of
these folks, and the collective thanks is directed to them: Diane and
Sed B (Sed has been promoted to Honorary Event Staff), Sarah B, Nicole
B, Susan C, Blair H, Sue H, Anne W, and Linda W. Collectively they
hauled, stored (the staging area in the Residence was Diane and Sed's
suite), cooked, cleaned, prepped, picked up or dropped off, drove,
shopped, washed, walked dogs, and made sure I took my pills, among too
many other things I'm missing in the list. That's it for this year -
other than what one alum so nicely reminded me of yesterday - only 359
days (as of then) to go till the next year (!). My thanks to all who
came and made
it, again, a most wonderful time.
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