Monday, September 1, 2014

Festival Of Quilts :: The People

So I was lucky enough to head to the Festival of Quilts in the middle of August.  This was my first trip, so it was all very exciting.  I was looking forward to the quilt displays, the shopping...but most of all seeing my friends.

My good friend Susan was kind enough to invite me to stay at her house over the weekend so we could have a good catch up.  I could meet her wonderful family and then we could head into the Festival together.  Who could say no?  I was delighted!  I am pretty sure we talked non-stop from the airport parking lot, through all of Friday, and Saturday until she dropped me again in the same airport parking lot on Sunday.  We had a lot to say, clearly :)

It was really wonderful meeting Susan's family.  Those of you who read her blog know she has two beautiful daughters (Emily and Helen), a quick-witted husband (John) and (at that time) three gerbils.  It was wonderful to meet them all and get to know them in person.  Before going over, I made two little pouches for the girls and stuffed them full of American candy as gifts.


Emily is a Fimo master.  She had a little Fluffy Sheep waiting for me!  It's perfect.  You should see what she can make with clay.  Amazing!


I made tea towels for Susan using Heather Ross prints as per HR's book PRINTS.  I know Susan loves to cook and hates to clean, so these would brighten the kitchen and would (maybe) make it easier to do the dishes.

Stolen from Susan's IG feed.
On Saturday we headed off to the Festival and nearly immediately ran into smiling faces we knew.  Nicky joined us for the day through booth after booth and winding exhibits.  How she did it after her long journey to the festival I'll never know.  It was pure luck, too, that we ran into Mary and Susy.  Look at the awesome array of hand made bags and clothes in that photo.  Super.


With Susan being such a prolific contributor to Love Patchwork and Quilting, we had to pop by their booth for Susan to meet Jenny.  They hit it off, of course.


And like a group of monkeys we had to mess and see if the three of us could squeeze on the LP&Q booth's couch.  It was a good laugh.


Of course, when we got home Susan and I dumped our newly fabric purchased fabric onto the floor to fold/refold and compare.  We had a great dig through Susan's stash, I drooled over her HR collection and then we pulled out several of her finishes that have long been favorites of mine.  It's different when you see them in person.



Sunday I packed up all of my new goodies and said my good byes to the Standen family.  They were so wonderful to me.  To remember my super weekend, especially the fun I had with Susan and her family, I picked up a little souvenir and tucked it into my suitcase.  Lucky me!


What a super trip!  It was so good to see my friends, to pick up a few (*ahem*) pieces of new fabric and to meet the Standens.  There were quilts there, too...I'll tell you all about them in my next post.





17 comments:

Rachaeldaisy said...

It all sounds fabulous!!

Suze said...

This Susan missed you. I was there on Friday. It was a crazy day. It was a trip of a lifetime for me to go to England. I was there 10 days. My paternal grandfather came to the US by himself when he was 17. The trip for me was like going home without having ever been there. I absolutely loved it there. People asked me if I could live there. If I could afford the cost of living, I could absolutely adapt to it. I loved the mushy peas.

Collette said...

What a fab few days!! Love your photos of quilty friends and it looks like you returned home with rather a few extra bits and bobs!! fantastic! x

pennydog said...

What a fab time, is that a full size quilt in that suitcase?!

Two Wednesdays said...

Sounds like a brilliant trip, both the festival and the visit to Susan's. Looking forward to hearing about the quilts too. 😀

Lynz said...

Were you trying to snaffle Susan's HR quilt?! You monkey. *g*

Ruth said...

Looks like you had a blast! Hopefully next year might get there too. All the photos make it look so good but getting to meet up with people you rarely if ever see has to be the best bit!

Tomomi McElwee said...

Sounds like you had a great fun there. More photos please!

Leanne said...

I bet you gave that quilt back in the end. I'm glad you had a good time.

Sarah said...

sounds so much fun!

Katy Cameron said...

Just the one souvenir? you have much to learn grasshopper... ;o)

tusen said...

This sounds like a perfect time. (But I'm with Leanne on the quilt ;))

Missy Shay said...

What a lot of fun you had!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

It looks like a lovely time was had by all!

Tina said...

Wow! Looks like so much fun! Looking forward to seeing your fabric purchases!

Canadian Abroad said...

It was so wonderful having you here to stay. You are always welcome. xxx

Strawberry Patch said...

Oh I wish I could have seen you at foq, missed you this year! X

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Label Cloud

241 tote all heart appeal antique applique apron art quilt aurifil award baby quilt back background bag basket batik bee Bee Blessed Big Stitch Swap bird's nest birdie stitches birthday blankets of love block blog blogaversary blogger bundle bloglovin' BOM book brit bee brooch bundle bunting business card holder camping cathedral window chain piecing chaos charm pack charm squares charm swap chickens Christmas class clothes color commission community community quilt contest craft craft fair cross cross stitch Cúchulainn cushion design wall diaper Do.Good Stitches donation double wedding ring drawing dress eclipse election electronica embroicery embroidery eraser stamp exhibit fab fabric fabric tape facebook FAL farmers journal fat eight fat quarter fat quarterly feature festival of quilts film finish finish along flag flickr flying geese FMQ FNSI frame Free Motion Friday free motion quilting friends fugly Galway Galway Now gift giveaway goal goals goodie goodie swap granny mania granny squares graph guest blog guild hand puppet hand quilting hand sewing happy hat help hexagons hey girl hospital hot pad HST I Spy ICA improv innovation award inspiration interview invitation ipad ipad cover IPS IQFOI Irish chain Japanese key fob kind stitches knit knitting knitting and stitching kona lattice illusions laugh launch learning lecture Liberty linky list little star loops love on the blocks LQS Day magazine market medallion mennonite miniquilt mixer cover mod logs Mod Pop QAL modern blocks Modern Irish Bee modern irish quilters modern quilt guild modern quilt guild bee modern stitching Modern Stitching Bee monster mouthy stitches mug rug mural name name game name tag napkin needle book new york beauty newsletter Nieve notebook cover overlocker panel paper piecing patchwork pattern Pay it forward Peace Valley peanut butter perle cotton pezzy pizazz photograph PIF pillow pillowcase dress pin cushion pinwheel PJ placemat podcast polka dot pom pom portholes post pouch precut puffy pouch puppy purse QAL quilt quilt exhibit quilt frame quilt top quilter in the gap quilting Rainbow Charm Swap research retreat retroflower review sale sampler scarf science scrap scraps screen printing seams selvage sew and bee happy Sew Bee Blissful sewing machine sewing room shop significant sizzix sketch skirt solid spools stall stand star stargazing start your own stitched in color string stuffed super tote surprise swap swoon tablerunner teaching text thumb tack tiles top tote toy travel tree skirt tumbler tutorial twinkle twinkle twitter video vote walk wallet website win WIP wonky house yarn youtube zip

Total Number of Page Views