One of my favorite words is JOY. It's a small word but it packs a lot of punch!! JOY comes in all shapes and sizes from new babies to kids graduating from high school, from a new bike to a new car, a new dress, good news, a new home, seeing your kids grow up and do well, good friends, visiting family, more good friends, kind words in tough times, lots of good friends!! That's where much of my joy comes from..........friends. Recently, my good friend Sue commented that there was something special about her friendships now because they were no longer friendships that were connected by children but instead were friendships connected by similar interests and the JOY of stitching together!! We all agreed with her!!! So, it's in the spirit of quilting friendships that I offer up today's gifties in celebration of my blogging anniversary. And here they are.......
Brown Bear has his arms full this time with a package of Mary E notecards that say "The Art of Friendship" to a purse pattern, then fabric and, of course, a notebook so you can keep track of your projects and/or your friends. :-) The fabrics are a little charm pack by Moda called Clementine that I picked up at FireflyQuiltShop yesterday afternoon. I had picked up the little purse pattern by Sherri Falls (she's a Minnesota designer and you can find her at her website ThisAndThatPatterns). I bought this pattern a month ago for me and thought it would be a great gift here for my giveaway so I bought another one! I was in search of a charm pack of fabrics that I could include with it when Janice (owner of Firefly) asked if I'd seen the new ones she had just stocked. Somehow I had missed them but the minute I saw this charm pack, I could see it as the purse, and then also as a baby quilt for my son's friend's new baby. I bought three of them, so in the picture, you can see the one you that will receive and then I took my charm pack and fanned it out so you can see the fabrics in it. They just say summer, don't they? Or in that baby quilt they will just say "girlie" which is what the new baby is!All you have to do is leave a comment for a chance to win the gifties that fill Brown Bear's arms. Of course, there is a question you must answer in the comment you leave and here it is..........tell me a favorite quilting memory you have made with a friend or friends. It has brought me great JOY to read the comments/answers you all post and hope you all are enjoying them to!!
One last thought...............in yesterday's post there was the Mary E quote "the best antiques are old friends". Today's quote is an old one and I have no idea where it originated........."Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold." I am so fortunate to have old, new, antique, silver, and gold friends!!!
I'll see you late Sunday afternoon with another post for Celebration Day #6. Til then, have a good afternoon and a great Sunday!
Sandi
70 comments:
A favourite quilting memory with friends... I taught my friend Karen how to free-motion quilt on my machine because she couldn't drop the feed dogs on hers. She went crazy and I thought I would have to revoke her driver's license. It was hilarious!
My favorite quilting so far is spending time with my DIL making baby quilts. We were making quilts before she even planned on having a baby!
"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold."
That's from an old girl scout song!
Love your give aways and brown bear too! He is such a help to you helping to display things!
i don't have a single favourite memory. My memories are of spending Tuesday mornings quilting with a few friends when i lived in Central Queensland. I haven't lived there for 4 years now. Hugs, Jeanette
In March of this year I attended my first quilt retreat and not with anyone I would have called a friend before I went. Everyone was so kind and accepting and by the end of the three days, I would call over half of them a friend. They invited me to join them again next year!
My sister and I made a quilt for a family reunion auction and had so much fun planning it!She moved to Ft Sill a few years ago but we still managed to collaberate 2 years ago on a quilt for our brother that lives in yet another state. She is inroute back here as we speak as her husband has been transferred back to Ft. Bragg!Love your give-away!
My favorite memory is of my current redwork club. I moved here 3 years ago and even though I am shy, I MADE myself go to the free redwork club at a LQS. Everyone was so nice and friendly and I now meet two of them every month to sit/talk/stitch and sew... I love it...
Beautiful Charm Pack, you are really too generous.My first memory of quilting was the first item we learned, it was a table runner for Christmas done with 5 in squares. At that time our teacher was Edwina and Pat Casadei. Sharon was already a self taught quilter but wanted to learn "The correct way" She does beautiful work, doesn't need any help. Linda, Joanne and I were the new quilters. I was sooo excited as the materials I used were all from my Moms stash, that I inherited. Needless to say I treasure it. I love the friendships we have formed and a couple of times we missed every other week and I told the girls, this can't happen too often, I suffer from quilt withdrawel. I still am as enthusiastic as I was in that beginning.
My favorite memory of quilting and friends...there are so many it's hard to choose just one. I'm very thankful to have a group of Quilter friends that meet each week. I'm also very thankful to have Quilter friends like you Sandi. I fondly remember the days at your house, even if we didn't get much sewing done. (smile)
Yes, that is a Girl Scout song! I used to be a leader and sand it often with my troop at events.
Cathy
One of my fondest memories is a weekend retreat I took with a wonderful group of quilting friends. It was sewing & talking & eating hours upon hours - sheer bliss! Wish we could put another one together!
I guess I would have to say the day I discovered the internet and all the wonderful quilters I have met along the way. I started in the AOL chat room, then found forums, where we did projects together and now I'm in blogland. The generosity of quilters is so amazing, with charity quilts, comfort quilts/blocks, sew-a-longs and of course the giveaways :0) I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't connected up to the internet.
Crispy
My faavorite quilting memory with a friend - my BEST friend is a lady that doesn't quilt - at all! But she so enjoys going with me to Paducah Quilt Show every year, helping me find sewing notions that I'm looking for, finding fabrics in colors that I'm looking for and just generally being a good helper. We've been going for 7 years now, and even tho she doesn't quilt, she looks forward to the trip as much as I do!
A favorite quilt memory was having a breakfast picnic with my daughters at a park... on an antique quilt made by my great grandma.
Cindy
creativecards@shaw.ca
My favorite quilting memories are the times i spend at retreat with my quilting buddies.
Your giveaway is awesome. Congratulations on your one-year blogiversary.
I guess my favorite quilting memory would have to be all of the wonderful quilting blogs I have found here on the net. I have never taken a class, gone to a retreat, gone to a quilt show, or been a part of a guild or club. So I depend on the internet and blogs to meet up with quilty friends.(Grin) Sandi I love today's giveaway. You are a very generous lady. Winona
Favorite quilting memory? Seeing the look on my sister's face when I (finally) gave her the quilt I made for her wedding - a queen size sister's choice quilt. It was my first major project and I don't know whether the surprise was that she actually liked the quilt or that she was amazed I got it finished!
Hahaha - I had to laugh at your comment you could use the journal to keep track of your friends - I'm at an age where that's a good idea! I love the saying "You and I will be friends til we're old and senile - then we'll be NEW friends".
Favorite quilting memory - going to the Sewing Expo every year with my bestest quilting buddy. Last year, she told me not to let her spend any money, and promptly disappeared when we got in the door. 4 hours and over $1000 later I found her - she had stuffed all her purchases in her car already! We still laugh about it, and she STILL hasn't used a single thing she bought that day!
Another fabulous prize!
For many many years, my husband and I, along with 5 other couples would get together once a month at someone's house for dinner and a nice grown-up evening. One of these couples finally decided to get married so the rest of us ladies got together and made them a quilt. What fun we had meeting and sewing together! It's the closest I've come to the kind of get-togethers I read about on this and other blogs, and wish I could participate in myself. Perhaps when the kiddies are older, I'll get in with a quilting group. How fun that would be!
Can't wait to find out who the lucky winners are!
MGM
This question is an easy one for me. My fav quilting memory is going up north and spending a week with my BFF. We went to the Amish Shop Hop and then made a quilt called Pine Trees. It was a marathon quilt, but I love it, and the sweet memory of a wonderful time together with my BFF.
My favorite quilting memory is when I was first introduced to quilting and from then on, I was hooked! I started off 35 years ago... my how time flies... hand piecing and hand quilting. Now I do almost everything on the machine and I am very blessed with many quilting friends who share their love of quilting with me.
Hugs :) Kathleen in NM
OMG what a great question! Today I was able to get together with some friends from an online quilting group. We do this about once a month at one of the ladies shop. We have such a great time. I have made some wonderful friendships through the group.
I do most of my quilting alone, but last year, I did teach two buddies the basics of quilting. One was very quick to learn and she finished her first quilt with me and then went on to make another on her own. She even bought a new Janome 6600! The other needs more one on one and 'let's do a project together..tell me what to do' type. We had a good time meeting every other week in my home. I'd prepare a little lunch/dessert, have coffee ready and even have a time sharing in God's Word. Lovely hours we spent in each others company. We did this all through that winter. Summer came and it's demands and we fell off out get togethers, but maybe this winter we'll do it some more.
My favorite memory of quilting has to be with my grandma...She lived down the road from us when I was growing up, so I spent may hours quilting with her ... As far as I know she never unpicked any of my uneven stitches from her beautiful quilts....
I have given this some thought today. I have never quilted with anyone else. My Grandmother used to quilt, but I was not interested then. The one thing that I did at a family reunion before she passed was to get autographs from all that were present. My very first real quilt was made with these autographs with Grandmothers signature in the middle. Guess I should post a picture of that quilt on my blog.
Gee....I have a lot of pleasant memories of quilting and can't really pick a favorite. I love working with our small neighborhood group (and realize we are very LUCKY to have such a group within walking distance of each other). I recall fondly my first quilting class at a large quilt show (with British instructor Barbara Barber) and how nervous I was but how quickly she put me at ease. I treasure the friendships I've made with other quilters online and the many wonderful ideas I've gotten from them (and HELP when I needed it with a project). I hope to continue making many happy memories with quilting. Congratulations, again, on your blog anniversary and thank you for the extreme generosity you are showing with these giveaways! You are probably one of the best quilting "memories" for most of us.......recalling the day we found your blog and YOU.
My favorite memory is when I meet with my quilting friends and we sit together sewing and chatting. I get so much done and we have a terrific time.
Lotta
My favorite quilting memory so far is teaching my 8 year old granddaughter to sew and quilt and her little quilt she made for her new baby brother.
My favourite quilting memories are all the good times had at sewing days, sleepovers, and fabric shopping trips. I know that's more than one, but the fun times had are just immeasurable and still keep on coming.
That charm pack definitely screams summer.
Unfortunately I haven't found the "right" group of quilting friends...yet. I do love to quilt with a bunch of different people online.
One of my fave parts of quilting is when my daughter (18) goes fabric shopping with me. She has a great eye for coordinating colors and designs.
Brown Bear sure has his hands full. Bet he will be glad when your celebration week is over. (Smile)
I have so many wonderful memories of quilting with friends it would be hard to select just one but my current one is meeting with my stitching group each Monday morning. We just gather around the table, talk, laugh, bring new ideas, help each other and have a great time. We bring "sew and tell" for inspiration. Although we are all quilters, oftentimes you will find someone crocheting, embroidering, redwork or knitting. Sometimes we all go out to lunch afterwards. It is a great start of each week and I really look forward to it.
I hope you are enjoying your celebration week as much as we are.
Happy Blogiversary!!!
A qood quilting memory is all those quilt trips I have had to the cabin with good friends. We have done that for almost ten years now and it's great.
My favourite quilting memory is a quilt that I made for an old 91 year old gentleman who lived in a nursing home. He was priceless, and I loved the look on his face when he took the quilt and wrapped himself in it. What a wonderful smile was on his face as he rocked away with his colourful, new quilt. That definitely made my day!
Micki
My favorite quilting memory has to do with reconnecting with an old school chum and making new quilting friends. The reconnection began when I mentioned to an old friend that I wanted to learn to quilt and she answered she did to and so began the friendship that I could not live without. She has been with me in good times and bad and my life has been enriched because of her. Thank you, Carol.
Make new friend is an old Girl Scout song I learned and we used to sing it in rounds. Thanks for the memory.
Hugs, Denny in PA
These give-aways are great. Congrats on your anniversary. Any time quilting with friends is priceless, but I have to say that the friend who got me started is the one that I will cherish the most. I just love the bright colors in this post.
Best wishes on your anniversary. Quilts and quilting are memories but one stands out for me is a quilt that was made when our high school principal retired. Everyone respected and loved this educator. This quilt was definitely far from perfect but what a priceless gift. Every student in the high school was given a piece of fabric to write a memory on then a sewing machine was set up in a small conference room then off to the detention room to be pressed. On a holiday weekend , I brought it home and at a family picnic it became our craft for the day and we tied it.
My minigroup occasionally goes on retreat. Those are the best times! Quilting, laughing , eating and taking long walks. You can't beat it!
Mary
mvkquilt@sbcglobal.net
Dayna's right...the saying is part of a Girl Scout song!! Fits right in with my favorite memory of a quilt I made for a friend who was retiring..she is not a quilter but has always been so supportive of my quilting
My favorite quilting memory is completing our first quilts with my mom. Another favorite(s) is picking out the material with my sons for their quilts.
And "make new friends but keep the old" is an girl scout song and as far as I know they still sing it today!
My favorite quilting memories with friends all revolve around the annual CrazyQuilt Society Retreat that is held each year in Omaha Nebraska. The very first time I went was in 1999 and I met that year a friend who is like a sister to me. We are separated by many miles since she is in Minnesota and I am in California. I have not seen her since 2004, the last time I was able to attend the Retreat, but we still remain close friends. Over the years we have had some hilarious adventures & still share our love of crazyquilting!
I haven't done memory quilt yet. My older sister had lost her son a year ago in an accident and I'd like to do a memorial quilt for her ,but she gave all the clothes away.
Soon after I started quilting, a good friend gave me a hand-quilting class as a birthday present. She registered both of us for the class and bought the supplies, and we had a great time together!
Being handi-capped, I have to go to quilt shows in a wheel chair. My friend took me to one and we looked and oohed and awed over what we saw. When we got to where all the venders were set up, my friend turned to me and said. I didn't know there were so many quilting nuts in the world! Bless her heart, she didn't mean it as a put down. She hssn't started quilting but she did see some cross-stitch that inspired her to learn. Maybe someday, quilting.
Sarah e4e823l@yahoo.com
Not sure this would count as a quilting memory, but my 3 year old grand-daughter came and visited us one year for Christmas, after she got home her mom called and wanted to know why I sent her home with a bunch of fabric. I hadn't, but my grand-daughter was so taken with some of my stash that she took it home with her!
My favorite memory is learning to stitch and quilt from my grandmother. Even though her eyesight was failing, she insisted on teaching the four of us the basic stitches. I have several pieces she made and it is apparent that her eyesight was poor. Of course, we did not care at the time - we probably were not even aware it it!! She was truly a grandmother in every respect.
Oh my favorite quilting memory is teaching my friend Taron how to quilt while our hubby's were at work. It's so great to watch someone learn from you!
Hello,
My favorite memories on quilting are the Mondays when I spend sewing in my livingrooms with 2 friends. One is learning patchwork the old way without rulers and sewing machine bei templates per hand and the other one learned patchwork two years ago from me, but she says she never did it alone at home and when she comes to me she dit something. My room is little and so its good to do only one by sewing machine. We have lot of fun and I also learn a lot how to tell something that they understand me.
Sorry for mistakes, but my english isn´t good.
Greeting Guilitta
Hi Sandi,
Not sure if I have a favourite quilting memory, as I have done very little quilting! I do have lots of great memories of craft retreats that I used to attend in South Australia with lots of ladies making quilts, bobbin lace, cards, teddy bears, cushions, beaded necklaces, etc and I was one of the regulars, attending both retreats each year so it was great to catch up every six months with the other 'regulars' that went each time.
My favorite quilting memory is of watching my grandmother hand piece a quilt as a gift for my mother. That quilt now rests on an antique iron bed in my mother's home, a reminder for all in our family of Grandma's love.
I also do not have such a memory as I have no quilting experience, but I once embroidered a table cloth with a friend and it is still in use at my parents house. Thanks.
Shrenika(shrenika.kasera@gmail.com)
That Old Friends Quote is from a song I learned in Girl Scouts.
Love to make bags and purses.
I have no quilting memories because I'm just starting this new venture in quilting but hope to start making some new memories real soon.
My favorite quilting memory with friends is at my Country quilts group, there were just 3 of us who lived in this area but we met once a month. Amy would pick the projects and teach me and geri new ways to do quilting and we were doing machine applique and fuseable bonding and we were so proud of ourselves to have drawn out all the pices and we got themm cut out, then after we ironed them on the fabric we realized we did half of the fabric backwards and all of the drawing backwards, Geri changed her's but I left mine and now everytime I see the WH I laugh at the fun we had as we don't get together much anymore to to health and being busy.
Huggs,
Cleary
I start more UFO than anyone person should be allowed but am slowly REAL slowly getting them finished. Thanks to the son who paid for my fist lessons when he was in high school and my grandmother's who where needlewomen long ago! thanks, sandra
My best quilting memories are when I have the rare opportunity to go to a quilt show in the U.S. and I meet people in person who I've known online.
The best quilting memories I have is when I went to Missouri about 10years ago to meet and visit my on line friend "Raeann" for the first time. Yes we have the exact same first names, not a very common name either I may add. Raeann was 60+ years young and full of information for a beginner like me. I was warmly greeted by her quilting circle friends at church. I had so much fun. I was given instruction in handquilting from Alma and learned how to quilt on one of their old fashioned frames. It was the bestest experience I ever had. I'm a honorary member of their little church quilting group, even though I live in CA! Rae Ann
My favorite quilting memory is of my first quilt. I made the Dresden plate top and my mother and grandmother put the frame up in our basement and began hand quilting. Then it snowed and I wasn't able to get back to Mom's house so I have very little of my work in the quilt. But I love that my mom and grandmother quilted it for me.
I had an acquaintance from a book club who seemed to have opinions similar to mine. We had lunch together a few times and discovered our common interests in sewing, quilting, and crocheting. Now, unless life intervenes, we two friends try to sew or cut or shop together as much as we can.
We go on retreats and have vacationed together without our husbands several times. Swimming pool in the morning and sewing machines in the afternoon. Whee!
I enjoy every minute of my quilting journey and always have lots of fun. When I first started in my group, very little people knew that I was left handed and they would just start laughing and if asked why they were laughing, their reply was you are holding your work at a funny angle. Sometimes they still laugh but have to admit that my work looks good.wink wink!!!!!
I live in the country so I greatly enjoy making friends in the on-line quilting groups. One of my favorites is the Usenet news group rec.crafts.textiles.quilting -- a great bunch of ladies (and a few guys too). When my sister-in-law had cancer, those ladies contributed towards a HUG quilt for her.
Bev in TX
countryone77 at yahoo dot com
I'm going to have cheat just a little bit on this question since none of my friends sew, so not quilt stories there! Favorite quilt moment tho' is the very first quilt I made. It was a log cabin and I bought the least expensive fabric(OK, cheap) that I could find since I didn't know how quilting was going to go! It was all positive/negatives with a yellow center. It turned out really well...a queen size one. Problem was, my then 4 year old son decided it was his quilt! He slept under it, watched TV wrapped in it, ate with it wrapped around him! You get the picture. He loved that quilt til it was black and gray(white was just a memory)tatters! That is my favorite quilt memory.
My favourite quilting memory is of the weekend I spent earlier this year at the Australasian Quilting Convention with my sister and friends I have meet in blogland. We all got along so well and had a wonderful time together.
Christine
auntiesquaintquilts.blogspot.com/
While being very new to quilting, I have a somewhat related memory that is special to me.
I mentioned that I had pieced some simple quilt blocks up ahead of time for my wedding reception. I asked everyone there to please sign the blocks so I could make a wall quilt with them. Everyone had a lot of fun with it.
A dear friend who is quite artistic snuck a handful of the blank ones and took them home. I received a packet in the mail a few weeks later. She had proceeded to paint and embellish them with mementos of the day. They are beautiful and oh so precious! We love them and her.
Shop hopping for sure, with my favorite quilter, my Dad. Who quilts in spirit but does sew!
I make quilty memories every Tuesday. I am 60 years old. I have been quilting 4 years. On Tuesdays, I quilt with 5 "friends." The oldest is 85, then 84, 82, 78, & 74. Pure JOY - I have learned so much from them.
annmarie (tegens@charter.net)
Quilting memories with friends - my first online quilt bee quilt was great fun! I also do alot of collaborative quilts with my sister. We make wedding wallhangings for our cousins. I really enjoy that. Now we work on special anniversary quilts and such for our parents, and birthday quilts for our nieces. We have different ideas and I love how they have each worked out - so far! Thanks for the chance to win some bright Clementine. These gifts are awesome - you are truly generous!
My favorite quilting memory is fairly recent. It's spending time with my daughter, teaching her to quilt, and helping her make a baby quilt for her first little baby.
My favourite quilting memory is taking my mum to our first quilting classes after my dad had died and I was recovering from cancer. It was good therapy.
normansandra@hotmail.com
"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold." This is a Brownie Girl Scout song that I learned to teach my daughters troop when I was her leader so many years ago. It was our closing circle song and the second part of the song we sang is, “The circles round, it has no end, that’s how long I want to be your friend.” It is such a simple song, but full of such promise for young girls and friendships.
My favorite quilting memory is when I bullied my new friend to join a BOM quilting group at a quilt shop an hour drive from our homes. I so wanted to join, but I really wasn’t looking forward to driving two hours alone each time. I promised to teach her all of my quilting knowledge, which was enough to fit into a thimble, and to help her if she ran into problems. Now we both have a passion for quilting that brings us great JOY.
My sister lived in North Carolina for a few years back in 2005, I started my first quilt then, we had such a lovely time stitching and chatting about when we were small!
www.happinessiscrossstitching.blogspot.com
A favourite quilting memory with friends, was when there where no friends around.
At the end of last year we went on mission to Curacao. We where supposted to go for two years but it ended after just two months.
It was a very hard time. Everything went "wrong". Before going to Curacao I bought myself a quiltpatern with fabrics included.
During that hard period of time and not have much to do I quilted a lot. I'm a christian and so I have prayed a lot those days. The quilt is made by hand and with each stitch so many thoughts went trough my mind. Sometimes I had a long talk with my Heavently Father. But also there were a lot of memories of my family and friends.
That quilt has become something very dear to me... Because of the period it is made in and because of all the thoughts I went through.
Sorry if my english is not very well, but I try to express those feelings as good as I can.
The most pressious lesson I have learned is, no mather where you are en no mather what you do. The Lord is always there and He cares for you.
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