Friends and Fabric and Retreat projects!

It's time for Friends, Fabric and Retreat projects!!!!! I'm going to tell you about the friends that came to my retreat and share photos of some of the projects they have made. We have a lot of fun together and I know you all love seeing any quilting projects that might inspire you! Many of you that read my blog are from points all around the world. But there are also lots of friends and family nearby who also read my blog. They like to know what I'm up to. :-) Two of my husband's cousins have said they are getting to know me better just by reading my blog. My sister almost never sends me an e-mail anymore because she just reads my blog and knows what's happening. :-) My mother doesn't have a computer but she has a couple friends who read my blog and they tell her what I'm doing. She knows anyway because we are on the phone a lot. LOL!

As I share stories about my friends, you will also learn more about me. I've never really written a "bio" so this will actually give you all a peek into the quilting journey that I've taken the last few years.
Meet Sandi Chapman! She designed this gorgeous placemat for a friend in Florida. There are four placemats in the set and in each one the star designs are varied. The binding which shows on the left of the mat is "sand-colored" for the beach. The blue background on the front is for the sky. The photo below shows the completed placemat. She used a binding technique that allows blue for the front half of the binding on the mat and the sand color for the backside binding. I think she told us where she learned this but I am having a "senior moment" and cannot remember. Thank goodness, I can remember that I have known Sandie for many years! We met in the mid 1990's when she began working at Creative Graphics, a printing shop in Prior Lake, MN. I had been a customer at the shop since the late 1970's for my business cards and pattern sheets. However, I wasn't doing quilting projects. It was all miniature projects, anything that was scaled 1" to 1'. I was a charter member of the Midwest~Miniature~Guild, served on the board and taught lots of workshops in anything that could be done in miniature. I have featured posts on my miniature scenes here, here, here, and here. At about the same time that I met Sandie, I was really getting back to quilting (the first quilt I made was for daughter, Collette, in 1970) and as my quilting involvement grew, I made fewer and fewer miniature projects. Quilting and stitching just took over. LOL!
I wrote about Sandie in this post........Sew~Close~to~Home.
She took a class from me in 1999, and she is so sweet because she says if I hadn't been so patient with her, she might not be quilting today. She had a bit of a time picking fabrics for that first placemat she made, but she finished it, and we laugh about it now. I knew she could quilt, she just needed confidence in herself. Since that first class she has gone on to some bigger and really beautiful quilts. :-) Plus, she also coordinates an annual retreat, too.

Next comes Arlis Farmer! Arlis is a charter member of the Prior Lake Quilter's. The group was formed in 1986. Our librarian often mentioned the group to me and said I should join but I was a busy mom and my creative outlet was my miniature work. There wasn't room for another "creative outlet". Then came the "empty nest". With the kids gone, there was more room in the house. So, I kept all my miniature stuff and added quilting. LOL!

The first meeting I attended was in October of 1997, .........or so I thought........I had been told the quilt group met in the basement of the bank so I showed up at 7:00 p.m. and walked into a room filled with mostly women. I sat down to wait for the meeting to start. A woman stood up and started talking about "the Parent Booster project for football". I leaned over and asked the woman next to me what that was all about .........and that was when I learned I was at the wrong place. The quilters had moved to the library! The next month, I showed up at the right place.....the library, and I met Arlis and also, Deb Hoger, along with a lot of other talented quilters!! We have known each other for almost thirteen years. Who says thirteen is an unlucky number? Not when it comes to friends, for sure.

Arlis is a very sharing quilter. I have learned so much from her. She's also an excellent quilter, and does beautiful applique and handwork. She enjoys small projects and they are always........yes, they are quite perfect. She's a good friend and to show you just what a good friend she is........see that project that she's doing some "ripping/unpicking" on in the photo above? Well, that's not even her project! She's ripping for Sharon! Arlis had finished what she was sewing so she offered to rip for Sharon. Only a real friend would do that!! She didn't bring any "show and tell" this time but I'll share photos of the piece she was working on when it's finished.

And here is Deb Hoger! I missed getting a photo of Deb at her sewing machine, so this is a photo of her with the candlemat top that she made. It's going to be finished and sent off to her daughter. Deb worked on several projects at the retreat....... baby bibs and a baby quilt because she is awaiting a grandchild! I just wish I had taken pics of her projects as they were really cute!

My previous post was a message about "If I had never" and it applies here........"If I had never used that print shop, if I had never gone to that quilt meeting".......... I would never have met these three friends ~ Sandie, Arlis and Deb. And through them, I met even more friends that I'll share about tomorrow and the next days. One thing I know is this......... I may write this blog and I may make quilts or penny rugs, host retreats and stuff but if it wasn't for the camraderie of our friendships, it wouldn't be nearly so enjoyable!!!

And speaking of "If I had never", I'd love it if you would go over to Billie's~Blog and read the post she wrote after she read mine. It made tears well in my eyes so please check it out.

All for today.......

Sandi