p.s. the internet gave me a bff

hey p.s. i quilt readers it's julie from jaybird quilts
rachel's kiddies got sick...and then got her sick... & since she still a bit under the weather i said i'd step in.

so i'm going to tell you a story of how the internet gave me a bff.

before i had my own blog i read a few regularly, one of which was "p.s. i quilt"
this rachel girl seemed fun, real & i liked reading her posts.
she didn't use capital letters much either... a habit i shared.

i started my own blog & we began to form a bloggy friendship.
not long into that friendship rachel trusted me with her treasured pinwheel quilt & i quilted it for her.
slowly we went from the occasional e-mails to e-mailing every day.

then i remember like it was yesterday getting a really exciting email accepting my first project on the moda bake shop.
 i sent rachel an e-mail to tell her & the e-mail ended with "i'd call you if I had your phone number"
her next e-mail included her phone number & i called her.
we talked for what seemed like forever... commenting on the fact that we both had different voices than we thought the other would have & chatting about everything and anything.
later that night rachel sent me an e-mail that included "we SO talked on the phone."

from there we'd have the occasional phone call to talk... usually about something quilt related.
we planned on going to quilt market together that fall and started to talk more & more often... and eventually we were talking every day.

this photo was taken about 10 minutes after we met in person for the first time.
i immediately felt like i had known this girl forever... she just has that way about her.

fall 2009 quilt market

if our friendship had stayed at that level... i would have been happy.
rachel was a great friend & a person i could trust to give me honest feedback on in-progress quilt things.
we had BIG dreams of designing in the quilt world.

but it got better.
rachel became my bff.
she listened to me day in & out and helped to heal a broken heart.
she has been there when i've lost family members.
she was there when elijah was diagnosed.
she's been there for me in the good times too.
rachel has become the person i can call no matter what, no guards, no fears & i know she'll listen and still be there tomorrow.
{i'm also the same for her}

rachel & i are opposites in many ways... but that has only made our friendship stronger.
she's the triangle girl & i like squares
i love math & she doesn't so much
she's married with 4 kids & i'm just me :-)
she's southern & i'm from philly
i hate cooking & rachel loves it.
while we both have read/watched harry potter & twilight i'm on team potter & she's on team twilight.
{{rachel edit: i'm actually team harry potter & team twilight. i can't & won't pick sides. lol.}}

it was really hard for rachel that she had to miss this past quilt market.
we had grand plans for my booth & the show but hey life happens and we go with it.
rachel could have been all "woe is me i'm not there"
BUT she wasn't
instead she was my PR rep.
via twitter/facebook/flickr and even my blog she kept everyone up to date on my booth & market while i was too busy myself to do any posting.

during setup i spotted her escapde quilt before it got hung up in the kona booth.  i quickly asked candi to snap this pic so i could send it to rachel.
a few people wondered what i was doing... but i knew the photo would make rachel smile.
rachel & i are both following our dreams by designing quilts.

spring 2011 quilt market

i had many goals, hopes & dreams when i started my blog...
but never in a million years did i think that my blog would connect me with people in the incredibly genuine way that it has.
i've made many friends through my blog... but rachel is special.

had anyone told me 2 years ago that the internet would give me a bff i would have laughed.
"how could anyone... especially someone who doesn't see me regularly become my bff."
but it happened.
and i can't imagine my world without rachel.

rachel will be back soon... but in the meantime i hope you have enjoyed this peek inside our friendship.
{and i hope rachel doesn't kick my butt for anything i revealed... but i'm pretty sure i'm good.}

i love you rachel... you are my gayle.

♥ julie