Spring Market - Friends

A number of years ago I became aware of a trend in my photos.  The photos were of the kids and husband.  The photos were from events my kids participated in.  Rarely did I have anything from things I did.  Granted, a large part of my life was the kids, but I did have friends, and I did participate in activities away from the family.  Why didn't I have photos of these things?  I realized I needed to take care of this situation and so I took photos of my friends in my bookclub.  I'm so grateful for those photos as many have moved away now.  These experiences helped me to put myself out there and include my life in our family photos.  That said, I am warning you, there are a LOT more photos of me in this post than any you will ever see.  You might want to close the page now!  Unfortunately I missed some photo opportunities because I was busy visiting with my friends but here are the few I managed to get.

Catherine Redford and I met when we filmed at Quilting Arts last fall.

She is delightful to be around and is a wonderful teacher!

Luana Rubin from EQuilter dropped by the booth for a refresher course on Mistyfuse.

Luana is a such a clever business woman, activist and great quilter!  I love the quilts she made for the Inspired by the National Parks book.

Anne Munoz, my friend and mentor, lives just 3 miles from me, but it takes a trade show for us to get to see each other. We really need to make a play date!

Michelle photobombed us!

I have been friends online with Cheryl Sleboda and Cate Prato for many years and it was wonderful to be able to meet each other in person finally.  It felt very natural to be with them. Michelle Banton and I have been Facebook friends only since this past April and we were both surprised when we found out we would be working together with Iris at the Mistyfuse booth.  I really enjoyed getting to know her better!

Michelle Banton, Cheryl Sleboda, Me and Cate Prato.

I first met Karlee Porter at a quilt meeting in Ogden a few years ago 

and I have been a crazy fan of hers ever since. 

Karlee does the most amazing graffiti quilting,

and is a fabulous artist.

I was also happy to finally meet Desiree Habicht, from Desiree's Designs Studios and The Fiber Art Connection.  I will be teaching "Free From the Sun" during the next session of The Fiber Art Connection.  Desiree and I had great plans to make a video together during market but sadly it never came to pass.

I have been a big fan of Joanne Sharpe's work for a long time and was thrilled to get to know her better at dinner and during market.  She is a wonderful woman. It was so fun to be able to get a signed copy of her new book.

Joyce and Wendy are friends from my quilt guild.

Have I told you how much I am inspired by them and my quilt guild?

I think Emily Bailey and I first met through friends on Facebook.  

She is a member of the Utah Quilt Guild and designs fabulous quilts.

She is another person who inspires me!

I'm especially inspired by her generosity in organizing and making Quilty Hugs.

I love this photo of Judy Gula and I.

I think it's my favorite photo from market.

Judy is a fabulous artist, and business woman, and I'm glad to call her my friend.

I have chatted with Iris online many times and she has been a great supporter of my art.  

I learned so much from her at market and loved working with her. 

I'm so glad I finally got to meet her in person!

In the new friend category, Judy introduced me to Frond fabric designer, Melissa Marie Collins.  I bought some of her fabric to make in to a bow tie for my husband.  He was excited when I showed him the fabric.

I met a lot of new people at the Mistyfuse booth too. . .

. . . people from across the US and around the world as well.

I met people from Canada, Spain, Germany, New Zealand, and Japan.

I'm so grateful for this opportunity to get to know like minded people!