Crossing to "the dark side"

This is a really pic heavy post - you have been warned!!

Here's something you probably never expected to see on my blog - yep - my small (almost invisible) helpers are holding up a - gasp - QUILT!!

But don't be too shocked yet - it wasn't all my handiwork...

I think I need to work on my quilt photographing skills...

What happened was this -  one gorgeous adopted to Melbourne girl - Cath - told us she was returning to Sydney.

We wanted to send her off with a fitting reminder of her time in Melbourne and thank her for her friendship and becoming an integral part of our craft group - along with her Mum, Louise whenever she was visiting.

oops - that stray thread looks so obvious now.    Love these owls from Wendy's stash

So a plot was hatched.
You can read the back story and see the work in progress shots here on Wendy's blog.

Suffice to say we wanted a group project we were all involved in, together, and a quilt seemed like the best solution.

My second ever quilt block - I made a tiny, tiny one for Helen's birthday quilt that arrived too late to be included!!

The block we did is called Wonky Star - the Master suggested it and her apprentice played along while the two quilting 'virgins' shuddered in fear!!!

Cath's favourite colours - green and pink with a hint of grey for balance.

You may recognise the floral pattern below as what I used for Miss A's art smock - Cath commented she loved it so we used what was left as part of the backing.

The strip through the middle is shown below...

Part of this fabric, depicting some of the places (good coffee shops!) and experiences (horse and carriage ride) Cath has enjoyed in Melbourne was used on her card too.

This was part of one of Spotlight's recent ranges

It was really thanks to Wendy that I was heard to utter "it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!" - I think Wendy celebrated a quiet victory when she heard this!!

Isn't it pretty!

The best part though was Cath's reaction, excuse the lousy low-light restaurant pics...

She couldn't quite believe her eyes...

I think she likes it!

Try explaining 'happy tears' to a six year old!!

Here are the culprits - Virgin 1, the Master, Virgin 2 and the Apprentice!!

We will miss you Cath - and I do hope that every time you snuggle under this quilt you think of us and that both things make you feel warm.

She thought we were all very sneaky!!

I took a label-making tip from Helen - and used some ink-jet printable fabric to print a label that I created in the Mac program Pages.

Just so she doesn't forget us!

Sheridan once used what I jokingly called the "Q-word" when I asked what to do with some left over Minky I had.

So she and Donna (among others I am sure!) were both pretty surprised at my involvement in this project.

So there you have it - I crossed over to 'The dark side' for the sake of friendship - and (don't tell Wendy) but I actually quite enjoyed it!