Thursday 7 June 2012

The One Where I Meet Annabella!

We all have first bloggy friends. The person who started reading and commenting on your blog who wasn't friend or family and actually seemed to like what you were writing and the things you made. For me it was an amazing feeling. Even luckier, one of my first bloggy friends was Annabella. Kat was another one. I even went back in my comments out of curiosity to see if I was remembering correctly but there they were. Nicky was there too. They were there in the beginning when I had about six followers and no clue. Now I have more followers but still don't have a clue half the time.

They didn't just leave comments, they chatted with me online and we made friendships from afar. Last summer I met Nicky when we joined up for the Quilt Festival. Last weekend I met Kat. Today I met Annabella.

For those of you who don't know, though I suspect you all do know already, Annabella lives in Marrakech with her husband and son. She booked the Retreat as determined as the rest of us to meet, sew and have a fabulous time. And then last week she got ill. I cannot even imagine the disappointment.

Happily for me her aunt lives in Warwick which is not that far from here. And she drove over to see me today. It was fabulous to finally meet!

Before Annabella came I did a little mini sewing fest because I wanted to make her something that was an extra souvenir of the weekend though she wasn't there. And I had the perfect piece of fabric to use, courtesy of Kirsten. It arrived out of the blue last week and I was so busy and caught up in retreat preparations I didn't post about it. If you don't know Kirsten please do go have a look. She is so good with colour, things made with DS fabric, HSTs and a whole lot more. Plus she is super nice and all the way on the other side of the world in Australia.

How good is that London fabric?
And isn't that blue linen the best colour?

A quick dig about found some fabric that has been in the stash forever. I full yard of it. Purchased when I bought fabric because it was on sale not because I had a use for it. More digging and a red zip emerged from the bottom of the pit. Some cutting and sewing and I eventually had something to give as a gift.

One pouch, lined (and backed) with rows of little soldiers.

With a little bit of hand stitching to mark the occasion.

Next I went and sifted through my goodie bag from the retreat and decided that it would be much nicer to share than to hoard it all for myself, so I stuffed some things into the pouch.

I was lucky as I ended up with two Oakshott FQs.
And I recently won some Aurifil.
It was a no brainer to give some to Annabella.

And then Annabella was here, with the most gorgeous four year old you can imagine. And we had just over an hour to cram in as much talk as possible. I told her about the retreat. She asked questions, more about people than anything. I showed her in as efficient way as possible how to do portholes and freezer paper piecing - thankfully both techniques lending themselves more to my visual aids I got/made last weekend than to my ability to explain things. Annabella claims to have understood. Time will tell!

She seemed happy with my pouch full of goodies that I gave her. I was surprised to receive a pouch for myself. I didn't think Annabella had access to everything she needed to sew over here in the UK but of course she is with her mum and she has what is required.


Gorgeous linen and Liberty pouch.
Wouldn't Annabella have been in her element with the Liberty people?!

Lined with yet more lovely Liberty,
and one of her great labels.

Needless to say I provided cake and cookies. Any excuse really, though this was a particularly good excuse.


And Annabella looked exactly like she was supposed to. Good of her.


We talked lots. I let her get the occasional word in. I can be nice like that. She loved her Sample Swap items, as I am sure she will blog when she can. And then, just before she had to go, I gave her the Christmas tablerunner from the swap I ran in November.

For those of you who don't know, Annabella was the only one who didn't receive her tablerunner. Not because her partner didn't send, but because the post office buggered up somewhere along the way. We thought it was missing forever. But it wasn't. Some time in the new year it showed up back at Susan's in Melbourne. Susan sent it to me and I told her I would save it until June and hand it over in person. We never told Annabella that the original had shown up. She was expecting to get one I made as a replacement. So this was a double surprise. I will let the photos do the talking now.


And I will end this post with photos of the most beautiful four year old himself. Zaki has gone a bit camera shy but I managed to sneak a couple past him when he wasn't expecting it.


The visit may have been short but it was absolutely brilliant. Annabella will be back in fighting form next year and is determined to meet all the rest of you face to face. I told her she would like you.

Susan

31 comments:

  1. Glad you two had fun! Hope you sent my love to A and bitched about me something rotten! xxx

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  2. So glad you got to meet up. I love the pouch you made A. Did someone not manage to swipe a goody bag for her as there must have been one if she'd only pulled out last minute? Mmmm loving the look of that cake and cookies too.

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  3. Yay - she better give her mother's cooking a wide berth next year, that's all I can say ;)

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  4. Sounds like you had a wonderful time together! I hope I will get to meet Annabella at FQ next year.
    R x

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  5. so glad you had a good time xx

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  6. Oh what a perfect afternoon! Happy smiles all round! What a great hostess you are! Jxo

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  7. Hope she was feeling 100% better, an afternoon with you would wear anyone out... :-P
    So lovely tho that she even got her table runner too, you are such a sweetiepie.

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  8. thats awesome, how great that you got to extend the retreat and she could partake! great personal swap as well! enjoy!

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  9. awesome pouches and so glad you got to meet up! x

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  10. fantastic lucky you !!! gorgeous things for her and the runner too !!!

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  11. Oh, I'm so glad you got to meet! Terrible that Annabella had to miss out on the fun of the retreat due to illness, but I'm sure your thoughtful and pretty gifts helped ease her disappointment.

    Just love the pouch you made Susan... what lovely Britsh themed fabrics. Brilliant how you were able to surprise her with the missing runner. The pictures say it all!

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  12. That's fantastic! Hope Annabella is feeling much better, next year for sure! :)

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  13. I loved this post. I used to live in Warwick and memories of my life there came flooding back. You made such an adorabe pouch and were so sweet to share your goodies. What lovely people quilters are!!!!!!!!

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  14. Thanks for being Ms Postlady! Glad Annabella liked the runner. Your pouch was fabulous- love the fabric you used and the stitching too! I hope Annabella is feeling better too!

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  15. Ooh, lucky you, and hope you stuffed lots of cold and flu meds in there for next year ;o)

    PS, Anabella, there will totally be an exam on those techniques :oD

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  16. What a lovely post, so pleased you got to meet up. Both your pouches are great.

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  17. Amazing what you can do in one hour - a mini, mini retreat!

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  18. Love the pouch you made with the fabric Susan - so glad you could use it for something special for Annabella as she would have been so disappointed to miss out on the FQR. And is is lovely to see her reunited with her table runner at last!

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  19. ANother reason to make me cry, although I did have a nice lunch today with some of my besties. That pouch you made for Annabella is so perfect and the one you got in return is just beautiful. Zaki is a beautiful boy. I still like your idea of a quilting retreat in Marrakech...

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  20. GREAT STORY AND BEAUTIFUL TABLE RUNNER

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  21. Oh man that just made me jealous... I would have LOVED to have met Annabella. Hope you gave her a hug from me.
    PS love the pouch. And I know just where Kirsten got that fabric from because I have some too :)

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  22. This is wonderful news, I am so glad you got to give her the runner. And the pouches are beautiful, what a good idea!

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  23. She sounds just as lovely as I imagined her to be! And Zaki is SO cute! Glad you were able to meet her, even if I wasn't there with you two!

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  24. What a shame Annabella came all that way to be poorly!! She must have been so disappointed, so glad you were able to meet up and have a good blether.x

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  25. how lucky are you to have met together like that, almost like having the weekend all over again! Love the pouch that you made

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  26. Thank you Susan!!! I had such a wonderful time with you and the girls. I do hope we can meet again very soon. xx

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  27. Sounds like you packed the 48 hours of retreat into an hour of fun! Well done! :o)

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  28. It's brilliant that you got to meet A, even if it wasn't at the retreat...I expect to see complex PP blocks and portholes on her blog sometime next week!!

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  29. EEEE! I wish I was there! I want to meet lovely A too! I'm so glad you guys had a great time together.

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