Sunday, April 15, 2012

Memories of Melbourne: Wonky Stars for a friend

so a friend of ours from SAY
is moving back to Sydney
she's a bit sad as she hadn't quite had her 'fill' of Melbourne
Cath I'm sad to say goodbye 
but am more the richer for getting to know you some
make sure you post lots on your blog when you get back 
so we can see what you've been up to!!!
so Karen, Cas, Judy & I came up with a little plan
well .... it started out as:
"we should go out to dinner"
"& we should give her something to remember us by"
"& it should be handmade of course"
"do we each make something?"
"nah ... lets make something together"
then one of my non-quilting friends says ...
".... sounds awfully like a quilt to me!!"
"hmmm ... yes lets do that!!"
responses were varied 
.... "yes" & "no" & "no" ... & "come on, we can do it!!"
 wonky stars ... they were the answer
easy patchwork for beginners
great results when using a simple colour palette
can be made into blocks of all sizes without any tricky maths
 & with some gentle persuasion
i quote: "its really not the HARD!"
2 sunday evenings ... squirreling away in secret
yep Cath ... you would have had fun ... sorry we had to leave you out!!
we made 16 wonky star blocks
in pink & green
with a little bit of grey
used 4 inch squares in each star nine patch
added 2.5 inch borders
fabrics were from all 4 of our collections
included a thrifted up-cycled apron Judy found 
while op shopping with Cath .... little did she know!!
 all sewn together over a few glasses of wine
L-R: Cas, Judy, me & Karen
 introduced them to bendy safety pins!
 backing was pieced together using a very melbourne fabric
& some special pink & green floral that Karen knew Cath would love!
 we decided on a combo that i love at the moment
of quilting with both machine & hand stitching
i did the machine part
& sent these 3 ladies off to complete!
then i went & left the country
 it was all in safe hands as it traveled
from Judy to Cas to Karen
Cas sewed on the binding 
& Karen finished it with hand stitching
& polished it off with a beautifully made label
God speed
see you at SIT



 & we went out for tea to say farewell friend
joined in the Bloggers Quilt Festival 
over at Amy's Creative Side

16 comments:

Cas said...

hurrah, we made good!!! great post wensy, you have been busy this weekend bloggin!!have loved reading reading reading. now its time to blog about this beautiful quilt :)

Karen said...

Thanks for guiding me over to 'The dark side"! Wouldn't have gone there without you.
I feel really proud of us all.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful!! Well done ladies! Have I told u Wendy that I'm moving to Sydney?? Lol. Sam xxxx

thornberry said...

So beautiful - well done for organising it and for teaching the non-quilters! I was lucky enough to see it in person - absolutely lovely and a beautiful thought and memory.

CitricSugar said...

What a lovely remembrance! Beautiful job, ladies!

Lonci said...

Lowey work, i love this:))

Quilt+Bitch said...

I love making wonky stars. I can never make enough of them. Beautifully done. Pinks and greens are a great color combination.

Geta Grama said...

Wonderful quilt and memories!

April said...

I love the colors! very sweet. April @Little Mama Hen

Andrea said...

what a wonderful team work!

Simply Sandy said...

What a great memory you and your friends have made, not just for your friend who is leaving but also for the friends who helped create this little beauty!

Anonymous said...

That just brings tars to my eyes! What a wonderful gift!

Lily said...

What a wonderful story, and her reaction is evident! Beautiful, feminine quilt too : )

amy dame said...

this is so fun, what a wonderful gift! the green and pink together are fabulous.

Kate Brown said...

This quilt says volumes about friendship and love. She will be embraced by you all every time she wraps up in it. Great team effort!

Cath said...

I know I have thanked you many times already...was thinking of you and just had to say...this beautiful memory of my 4 dear crafty Melbourne friends is constantly on the lounge and not only does it warm my legs when in use - it warms my heart that you gorgeous gals made something so special for me. Mwaaah! C xxx