My Make Believe Friends

In the mid 1990s quilters were learning how to gather together on the internet. My first communication was on AOL’s quilting site. There were lots of postings and chats. One quilter reported that her husband told her, “Sure, go online and talk with your make believe friends.” That statement stuck with me all these years.

Pictured above, in alphabetical order by first name, are some of my real online friends. Over the years I have met quite a few of them face to face, but some of them are only cyber friends. They are not make believe. If you click on their pictures you will be taken to their websites or blogs.

Anita is one of the exceptions in the bunch. We met in person at a CT Publisher’s conference and then continued our friendship online. I knew her before she was a famous author and TV star! She has always been so sweet to me.

Betsy and I met on AOL where she worked very hard to persuade the powers that be to open an actual forum. We met in person at the grand opening of Thimble Creek in Walnut Creek, CA. She was wearing a red baseball cap which didn’t surprise me. She was just as I expected her to be.

Dorothy and I have never been in the same place at the same time. Over the years she participated with me in block swaps. She did a wonderful Canadian-American face for the “We the People” quilt. Perhaps it is because we have exchanged fabric and blocks that these connections feel personal.

Judi – where did I meet Judi? I know it was online. After many exchanges we met in real life when she volunteered to hand quilt the “We the People” quilt. I can’t thank her enough for that. She is also very interested in vintage quilts and we’ve “seen” each other on the Quilt Heritage list.

Kris is a multi-talented lady. She is the list mom for the Quilt Heritage list. She also has a traveling business, the Quilt Bus. plus a brick and mortar store in New York called Quilt Bug. She and I have had a merchant wholesale relationship, but we are friends. Someday she may drive her Quilt Bus to California and we will meet in person.

Linda and I first met on AOL’s quilting forum. We met up at the East Bay Heritage Voices in Cloth show and hit it off. Linda and I traveled to Palm Springs together to demonstrate QuiltPro at a quilt show. We got very well acquainted and still liked each other.

Marcia and I met on the Quilt Patterns Designers list. She has a fantastic site with hundreds of free patterns. Over the years we have written back and forth and shared lots of experiences. It will be fun to meet face to face one day.

Shelly (Pirate) participates regularly on the About.com quilting forum. That is where we met. She lives nearby in Walnut Creek and we’ve traveled together to several events. She had a gathering at her house and people came from all over to attend. Teresa even flew in from Guam. Shelly is full of fun. She tested a pattern for me and it worked well after she gave me some good advice.

Sophie and I bumped into each other on several online forums and lists. I just missed meeting her when she took a quick trip to California several years ago. We’ve exchanged bras (a swap block) so we’ve been quite intimate. She is an avid swapper.

Sue was a pioneer on the web. She established the first quilting website, World Wide Quilting Page, more than 12 years ago. She is list mom for Featherweight Fanatics. We’ve never met in person but I feel as if I know her quite well.

Susan is the other exception in the bunch. I met her in 1972 when my husband and I had a fiber arts small press. Susan had a fiber store in Berkeley, CA called Straw into Gold. She sold our books there. Then, she ran the quilting forum on About.com for years and years. We’ve met on several occasions and still talk regularly by e-mail. She now has a Delphi quilting forum. She has a wholesale yarn business and travels around the world finding yarn.

Teresa spends half of her year in Guam and the other half in Minnesota. What contrasting environments! We’ve exchanged blocks and she is really meticulous. We finally met when she showed up at Shelly’s gathering. She was just as nice as I expected.