Blogger meet-ups

As I approached another blog anniversary, I got thinking about all of the experiences I have had because of blogging, and all the people I have met, virtually and in real life. I decided I wanted to create a page where I could record those "in person" meetings. Not all of these people are still blogging. This is more for my record than anything else.

I started my blog on May 16, 2011, after having followed a few other blogs since March of that year. My very first real life meeting with another blogger happened in November of that year.

Mary (Quiltin' Grandma's Blog), was someone I found online because of a comment she made on another blog I was following. After reading her comment, I followed the link to her profile, found her blog and left her a comment. We discovered her husband is a first cousin to a family I had known all my life, and a few of them still lived in the community where I reside. Our first meeting was at a Jennifer Chiaverini book signing, about an hour from my home. Mary crossed a few states to get there. 

Over the years we have met a couple of other times. Once I visited her at the home of one of her husband's cousins--someone with whom I had attended girl's camps as a youth, who was living just 10 minutes away at the time. Then in the photo to the right, we were in my sewing room when she stopped to spend the night here on her way to visit family further south.

I think the next meeting was with Robin (I Like To Create Blog). We arranged to meet up at the Home Machine Quilting Show, that was being held in Salt Lake City every May, at that time. We first met there in 2012 by arrangement.

Then in 2013 I made a last minute choice to go to the show, and hadn't arranged to meet anyone, but Robin and I ended up coming across each other in the vendor mall. Robin and I only live a couple of hours away from each other, but these are the only two times we have met.

Also at the Home Machine Quilting Show in May of 2012, I was able to meet Sandra  (Textile Time Travels Blog). She always had a booth for her quilt appraising, so she was easy to find. I have photos of her from several shows, but I will include two--the first one from the 2012 show (love that quilt behind us).

The last time I attended the HMQS was in 2016. It was kind of spur-of-the-moment for me. Hubby wanted to go to Salt Lake City to test drive a truck, so I had him drop me off at the show, and I was able to stop and see Sandra again.

In April of 2013 I finally had the opportunity to meet up with Gayle (The Middle Sister Blog). She was living just about an hour away from me at the time, and we had emailed back and forth about meeting up, but it kept not working out. We finally met up at a halfway point between our homes on April 7th, in order to swap the little quilts we made for each other. The photo to the left was taken a month later when we happened upon each other at the Home Machine Quilting Show mentioned above.

If you ever followed Gayle's blog (she hasn't posted for a few years, but the blog is still there--I believe she is on Instagram now), you know she is a skilled rug hooker. A rug group she belongs to often had meetings nearby. The photo to the right was on such a day in March of 2015, where she broke away from the rug group long enough for us to grab lunch together at the nearby mall. We have met more than this, and I even stayed a night at her home on the way to a quilt festival near her home. 

My oldest daughter moved with her husband to New Hampshire after he had finished his master's degree. I was lamenting that they were going so far away, when Mrs. Goodneedle (From The Strawberry Patch blog) pointed out to me that visiting my daughter would give me the opportunity to visit Keepsake Quilting, which was about 10 minutes from my daughter's home. Along with that, I had the opportunity to meet up with blogger friends Grace (City Mouse Quilter blog) and Vic (Park Hill Farm blog). This was in October of 2013. Along with a fun shopping spree with them at Keepsake Quilting, they treated my daughter and I to a delicious lunch at a local favorite eating spot. This was a double treat, 

with two delightful ladies!

I can't say for sure when Kris (Lavender Quilts blog) and I met up (do you recall the year you moved here, Kris?), but what I can't believe is that for all the years we lived in the same valley, and all the times we got together at her house or my house, or a local restaurant, I could not find a single photo of the two of us together!! I have such vivid memories of us sitting at my kitchen island and taking a selfie together one day. Where is it??     The photo to the right was taken at a guild meeting where Kris was serving as president. She had arranged to have me come do a trunk show or class, or something. During their Show-N-Share, I snapped this photo of her sharing her Kaffe creation. I love that she is laughing--that is so Kris! This was in April 2015. Kris has since moved to Oregon, but we haven't yet worked out a meet-up while I have been there visiting my daughter.

In May of 2014 I had another HMQS meet-up. Marj (Eclectic Quilter Blog) was in the habit of coming from her home in South Carolina, to a retreat in Idaho. And then she would make the trip down to Utah  for the HMQS. So in May of 2014, we met at the Main Stage and had a nice visit. She still has an active blog, but posts are infrequent.

On one of my trips to visit our oldest daughter in New Hampshire in 2015, her hubby drove us up to Maine to a couple of my daughter's favorite lighthouses. He also graciously took us out of our way to Litchfield, Maine, to visit The Busy Thimble. This is Cyndi's (The Busy Thimble Blog) amazing shop. A cottage full of repro fabric, with a gracious proprietor. I remember Cyndi asking me at this time if I knew Wendy, from The Constant Quilter blog. At the time I did not, but I looked up her blog when I got home.                                                                

After Hubby's retirement in 2021, we planned a trip to Maine to visit some of my family history sites.

By this time I also knew Wendy (The Constant Quilter blog), and we were happily able to arrange for a trip to Cyndi's shop together. 

Our husbands kept each other company while we visited Cyndi. It was a delightful visit, and I hope it isn't my last trip to Maine!

Our daughter, who had been living in New Hampshire, ended up moving to Oregon after a few years in New England. On one of our trips to see her, Randy (Barrister's Block blog) and I arranged to meet up along the way. Hubby and son dropped me off at a quilt shop in Bend, OR, where Randy met me. After shopping, we went to lunch. Hubby and son met us after their lunch and we got a few photos. This was July of 2016. Randy and I started our blogs within a week or two of each other in 2011, and have been following each other all along.

Barbara Black of My Joyful Journey blog, had posted that she

would be working in the Education Office at the Salt Lake edition of the International Quilt Festival, held in late July of 2022. She invited any who might be attending to drop in and meet her. I have followed Barbara's blog for many years, and she is a very talented quilter and instructor, and I was very happy to have the opportunity to meet. I had talked with a friend about possibly going down to the show, but our schedules didn't work out, so we dropped it. But for a chance to meet a blogger, I had to make it work. 

Hubby and I had been trying to find a day to get down to Ikea (about 2 hours away) and pick up some items we wanted, so we decided if he dropped me off at the venue in Salt Lake City on his way to Ikea, I would have 2 or 3 hours to meet Barbara and peruse the show, while he browsed IKEA and picked up our stuff. It worked out great. I had just enough time to meet Barbara and have a visit, then take in the quilt show and vendor mall

That's it for now. I realized that the other bloggers I have met that I haven't named here are national teachers who happen to blog. I am considering a separate page that highlights the national teachers I have had the privilege of meeting, and from whom I have taken classes over the years. We'll see--this type of post takes a long time to get written. 

Janet O.