AUBURN #- A luncheon can be a good time to reconnect with friends, relax over friendly conversation, re-energize one's spirituality, or learn more about quilting.
Sometimes it can offer all four.
To help ring in the New Year, the Fingerlakes Women's Connection group, in conjunction with Stonecroft Ministries, held the “Happy New You” luncheon Tuesday, at the Sunset Restaurant in Auburn.
The group meets monthly in an effort to bring women of the community together.
“Our goal is to connect local women,” said Karen Whitcomb, regional representative for Stonecroft Ministries. “Our goal is to connect them with each other, the community and God.”
In many ways, these gatherings can be likened to the tradition of women gathering for afternoon tea, a feeling that Whitcomb tries to recreate for those in attendance.
“Eleanor Roosevelt said that a woman was like a tea bag, you can't tell how strong she is until she gets into hot water,” Whitcomb said. “Women have always enjoyed afternoon tea, it is a chance to spend time relaxing and comfortable and having conversation. It is something that is very vital.”
These meetings are also an opportunity to make numerous kinds of presentations of various arts and crafts that those in attendance can learn and take away with them as things that they can do themselves.
This month, the group welcomed Betsy Hargett, of Locke, to speak on the art of quilting.
Hargett began by giving a little history of what she termed “pioneer quilts,” items that were very much a part of what those traveling west carried with them on their journey in the mid and late 1800s and for many have come to represent that period of time.
“More than 250,000 people made their way west during this time,” Hargett said. “These quilts are the story of women's hardships, as the West was settled, in needle point. These quilts were a house when there was no shelter, they were comfort when there were no medical services, they were a shroud when there was no graveyard, these quilts came to represent a lot and serve many purposes as the West was settled. It was recommended that two to three quilts be taken per traveler and they would last the journey and several years after the travelers' arrival.”
Hargett, who machine sews all her quilts herself, focused her audience's attention on a pioneer-style quilt and showed how each square of the quilt told a story and represented some aspect of the pioneer period of American history.
The various brightly colored patterns of symmetrical stars and bursts and jagged edges could be used to represent places and scenes along the path of the western journey.
“This one represents the Rocky Mountains,” Hargett said. “Between 1840 and 1870 more than a quarter of a million Americans crossed these mountains. Others represent places like Cheyenne in Wyoming, Salt Lake City, (and) Arizona, think of the scenery and scenes that you would see in a place like Arizona and there it is in the colors of the quilt.”
Hargett also shared other pieces she has assembled, pieces inspired by various art forms, such as a Frank Lloyd Wright window.
But she also shared that these pieces could be very personal, holding up a quilt commemorating her 80th birthday in October and the birth of her daughter Nancy.
“This is my pride and joy,” Hargett said. “A friend had these photos put on fabric; there are photos of my daughter when she was a child and her parents and me as a child and my parents. It is really my pride and joy to have this quilt.”
To help ring in the New Year, the Fingerlakes Women's Connection group, in conjunction with Stonecroft Ministries, held the “Happy New You” luncheon Tuesday, at the Sunset Restaurant in Auburn.
The group meets monthly in an effort to bring women of the community together.
“Our goal is to connect local women,” said Karen Whitcomb, regional representative for Stonecroft Ministries. “Our goal is to connect them with each other, the community and God.”
In many ways, these gatherings can be likened to the tradition of women gathering for afternoon tea, a feeling that Whitcomb tries to recreate for those in attendance.
“Eleanor Roosevelt said that a woman was like a tea bag, you can't tell how strong she is until she gets into hot water,” Whitcomb said. “Women have always enjoyed afternoon tea, it is a chance to spend time relaxing and comfortable and having conversation. It is something that is very vital.”
These meetings are also an opportunity to make numerous kinds of presentations of various arts and crafts that those in attendance can learn and take away with them as things that they can do themselves.
This month, the group welcomed Betsy Hargett, of Locke, to speak on the art of quilting.
Hargett began by giving a little history of what she termed “pioneer quilts,” items that were very much a part of what those traveling west carried with them on their journey in the mid and late 1800s and for many have come to represent that period of time.
“More than 250,000 people made their way west during this time,” Hargett said. “These quilts are the story of women's hardships, as the West was settled, in needle point. These quilts were a house when there was no shelter, they were comfort when there were no medical services, they were a shroud when there was no graveyard, these quilts came to represent a lot and serve many purposes as the West was settled. It was recommended that two to three quilts be taken per traveler and they would last the journey and several years after the travelers' arrival.”
Hargett, who machine sews all her quilts herself, focused her audience's attention on a pioneer-style quilt and showed how each square of the quilt told a story and represented some aspect of the pioneer period of American history.
The various brightly colored patterns of symmetrical stars and bursts and jagged edges could be used to represent places and scenes along the path of the western journey.
“This one represents the Rocky Mountains,” Hargett said. “Between 1840 and 1870 more than a quarter of a million Americans crossed these mountains. Others represent places like Cheyenne in Wyoming, Salt Lake City, (and) Arizona, think of the scenery and scenes that you would see in a place like Arizona and there it is in the colors of the quilt.”
Hargett also shared other pieces she has assembled, pieces inspired by various art forms, such as a Frank Lloyd Wright window.
But she also shared that these pieces could be very personal, holding up a quilt commemorating her 80th birthday in October and the birth of her daughter Nancy.
“This is my pride and joy,” Hargett said. “A friend had these photos put on fabric; there are photos of my daughter when she was a child and her parents and me as a child and my parents. It is really my pride and joy to have this quilt.”
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