One of my favorite quilt buddies is my cousin Audrey. Years ago whenever I had to stay with Gramma overnight, the first thing I would ask her would be if Audrey could come over. I think she's even more fun now! She inspires me with her terrific taste in quilts and fabrics. In fact, we like each other's taste so much that when picking out fabric, we often buy what we think other would buy. In truth, she really does have better taste!

And then there's cousin Cathy. Her dad was a lieutenant colonel in the USAF, and Cathy often lived overseas when she was growing up. In the past few years, her dad took to traveling abroad and taking Cathy, her sisters, and the husbands along. You could said I live my traveling excitement through her. Cathy's taste in quilts is more modern than my primitive style. But we still hit the same note once in a while. At last fall's retreat, she pulled out a Christmas stocking wallhanging she was working on. A week earlier I had just finished the same one for my daughter Mandy.

The three of us get together once a year at the retreat. Even though it seems like we talk non-stop, we still compete with the noise of the sewing machines and the concentration of getting projects done.

But Audrey has come up with a great idea, and we are now in the planning stages. We'll be going to NQA in Columbus in June! We will stay with Cathy and her husband while we're in Ohio. It will be quite the gabfest for sure. Our quilt group is also looking into going, and I hope we'll be able to meet up with that gang as well. June can't get here soon enough!