Brit Bee Weekender 2016

What took me so long to tell you about our awesome Brit Bee Weekender?  Who knows.  Life gets in the way.  It has been wonderful re-living it all as I write this post :)  Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start: 

I was incredibly lucky to join the Brit Bee weekend hosted Feb 19-21!   Super Susan was kind enough to pick me up from Birmingham airport and bring me to her home on Thursday night.  On Friday morning as she made cake and lasagne (I drank tea) and then pre-cut her projects and packed her stash (I chattered away).  We popped in the car and arrived at our retreat house by early Friday afternoon.  There would be 8 other lovely ladies joining us that evening for a weekend of sewing, chatter, encouragement, a baby shower, a birthday celebration and delicious food.  I was so lucky to be able to join in.  

The house was lovely with one massive living room with dining room and kitchen.  The dining table fit all 10 sewing machines.  They were total work horses...except for my little featherweight.  She stuck out, but sewed like a champ all weekend long.

Joining me were some of my favorite sewing people - Di and Trudi, who make such a wonderful team....

Hadley, Laura and Fiona who were total pros at organizing everyone's quilt top to be balanced with the colors evenly distributed....

and then many other wonderfully funny, smart ladies like Susan, Ceri, Liz, and Ange.   We quickly settled in, threw fabric over every surface and started cutting/sewing.  Thank goodness there was plenty of kitchen counter space for trimming and three or four ironing boards set up through the living space.  We all had plenty of floor room, too, to set out our blocks before piecing tops together.

The total added bonus for me, but not Hadley, was Murphy.  He was a curious, kind, playful one year old pup who was MASSIVE, fluffy and friendly.  When I was missing my own Molly through the weekend, he was happy to have my attention and scratches.

Stay tuned this week and I will tell you about the pretties I made! 

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.

Circle of Friends: Such a Wonderful Surprise

Every day I appreciate my quilty friends.  You guys inspire me, give me a laugh, put life in perspective and remind me how real and touching friendship is, no matter how close or far you live from one another.  Monday afternoon, though, that friendship came into my home in a very real way.  And I broke down and cried in the kitchen. 

Let me (with great humility) show you the most gorgeous quilt that has entered this house: Circle of Friends.  

Goodness I wish I had prettier, more inspired photos to show you.  I was just running around like a loon trying to snap photos before the rain started and/or the sun set! 

This quilt was made for my partner and I by a lovely group of ladies separated by miles and miles (in Ireland, England, Morocco, N. Ireland, Scotland, Australia/NZ, Canada and the USA), but who support one another in any way we can.  I am so grateful to call these ladies my friends: Annabella, Emily, Hadley, Helen, Judith, Lucy, Nicky, Kat, Leanne, Rhonda, Sarah, Sarah and Susan.  We met one another through blogs, swaps and bees but over years became very real life friends.  Many of us have met in person, many of us have not.  That does not in any way diminish the bond we all share.   

You see, my partner and I have been through quite a difficult spring due to illness.  Each day we heal and take one step closer to re-gaining what was our normal life.  This circle of friends popped in/out with well wishes, giggles in the evenings when the house was quiet, and sanity checks when I was pretty sure I was loosing it.  All the while, they were secretly stitching away.  Who knew?

I can nearly mentally assign each block to each buddy with their fabrics shining through.  They were stitched together with love, then quilted in an amazing, symbolic spiral pattern.  The back is an adorable heart print with the biggest (most fantastic) quilt label I have ever seen!

I so wish I had a better photo for the siggy block/label.  Susan (in general) has a way more beautiful, more complete post here you can read.  I'm still scattered and a-buzz with emotion trying to put this post together. Her post is way more coherent.

They even thought to make a gorgeous cushion cover of coordinating blocks in a matching quilted spiral.  Perfect!  It has a super green cord back.  I'd love a skirt in this fabric!  This is going to look so amazing on the couch and I'll think of you guys each and every time I walk into the living room.

Honestly it's prettier in person.  I should have ironed it before taking photos.  Sorry, guys!

Let me tell you, though, of Brian's impression when seeing this quilt.  I had about 30 minutes to mentally digest its arrival and meaning, then I ran outside (ripped the laundry from the line) and popped the quilt up to take photos before the big rain drops came.  Brian came home during the photo shoot and our conversation when something like this:

Me: Come on over here and let me show you something.

Brian: Sure.  Ooo.  That's pretty!

Me:  Amazing, huh?  It's a gift.

Brian: That's way to nice to give away.  You should keep it.

Me: Um...no.  It's a gift from my friends to us.  A little love after our spring.

Brian: Seriously?  Look at the little pieces.  Wait.  Is this all quilted in one continuous spiral?  Holy (bleep-'n) frijole!

He loves it.  I love it.  And we both thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  xx (with kisses and more tears...the good kind)