Making friends, keeping friends

The International Quilt Festival/Long Beach is an interesting place.

You will find your friends, your friends' quilts, your friends' designs, your friends' patterns...

You will see friends you may not see or speak to every day.

And if you're lucky, you will even make new friends.

This is why I love quilt shows.

Walk the aisle, bump in to a friend from your Guild.

Take a class, and sit next to someone new, not the person you came with.  Share fabric, thread...ideas...

Find a pattern in a booth that you have already made, and exclaim, "Hey, I made that pattern.  I wonder if the designer is here.  Let's go look inside the booth and see what else they're up to!!  Let's show them pictures of the quilt for the grandchild!"  Here's a pic of a quilt from the book 'moondoggie & gidget' by beyond the reef - this quilt lives in Guam!!

How about these quilters in the picture below?

"I want a bag, no, I want a bag, no wait, how many are there?  I want a bag, too..." By the time they all had matching bags to go with their matching outfits, and had their photo taken, a crowd had gathered.  Once the photos were taken, and before they left, the crowd applauded them.  Now THAT's making friends!!!

We visited daily with Pat Sloan.

I purchased patterns from Heart to Hand.  And A Quilters Dream.

And I can't WAIT to start sewing.  A Jaybird Quilts pincushion - how cute for girlfriend gifts - secret pal gifts, you name it.  And the mermaid - well, look for THAT pattern in our booth at PIQF in October.  How about Stephanie's new pattern Square Root of Nine?  I can't WAIT to get the fabrics out a

nd...well, you get the picture.  I'm just never too tired to be inspired.

And how about the first pic of the blog?  

That's our Julie, from Jaybird Quilts.

Did we plan on getting together with Julie in Long Beach during the show?  Nope.  Did we plan on having her stay at the house or dip her toes in the bay after dinner?  Nosiree.  Did hULa wait and wait and wait until after the long day of the show to greet her dear friend Julie?  Nuh-uh.  That's because we had just met Julie.

But some friends are instant friends, forever friends.  

Keepers.

And that's the way you'll feel when you go to the moda precut page and make one of her patterns.

Or follow her blog, or visit her website.

That she's a forever friend, a keeper, someone you've known for a very long time.

But for now, it's time to rest up.  Get on the dog's schedule.  Nap.  And get ready for the next quilt show.  So that you can make friends, and keep friends.  We have a saying around here, it's not a new one.  It takes being a friend to have a friend.  So get out to that next quilt show and go visit your friends.  Make friends.  Find that quilt pattern designer and introduce yourself - show her what you made out of her fabrics, her pattern, tell her how she inspired you and you might make a forever friend - one scrap at a time.  

sparkle + shine

2009

thanks for thinking of 

b e y o n d   t h e   r e e f