A Special Quilt!

I know I promised to be back to share more about the exciting things that have been happening here this week, but I'm working on a bit of a deadline for a Secret Squirrel project, so haven't had time to take photos of the exciting things - I will, I promise!! Today, though, I thought I'd share some pictures of a special quilt with you.

One of my lovely stitching buddies, Ros, dropped in this afternoon to share some photos with me. She bought a copy of my "Fairy Bears & Butterflies Quilt" pattern back in September to help her make a special quilt for her sister-in-law who had been diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, Ros's SIL passed away not long after receiving the quilt, but she loved it and now her family has a wonderful keepsake. Now, Ros's quilt isn't anything like my pattern really, but she used the cute Fairy Bears applique shape on a lovely bright, cheerful background of green and purple. These photos don't really do the quilt full justice, I don't think, but they were taken in a bit of a hurry in the hospital waiting room before the quilt went to it's new owner. Here's a shot of the whole quilt.

You'll see she's used a great hydrangea fabric then matched the bright green and purples and the big butterflies she has used are from the hydrangea fabric. Here's a bit closer look ...



Ros included some lovely symbolism in her quilt - the two bears up the top holding hands represent her SIL and BIL, then below them are two boy bears and one girl bear representing their children and they're 'joined' by the quilting pattern that has pretty swirly butterflies in it. The butterfly above the bear couple's heads is quilted around with a heart shape. The heart, of course is the couple's love for each other and their family and the butterfly signifies hope. Here's a closer look at the fairy bears ...

Aren't they angelic looking?! :0) Instead of blanket stitching the applique shapes by hand like I did, Ros used the raw-edge applique technique on her sewing machine in a gold coloured thread, adding some zig-zag stitching around the bears' faces etc to create a 'fuzzy' look. She's done a fabulous job and it touches my heart to know that she included a little bit of my design in such a special quilt. I love the symbolism of presenting quilts to people going through serious illness or some other difficulty ... whenever they wrap the quilt around them to keep warm, they will be reminded of the love and care coming from their family and friends to 'wrap' them in a great, big BEAR HUG! Isn't it lovely to think that something we create as part of our 'hobby' can mean so much to someone!

OK ... back to the sewing room and meeting my deadline. Hope you all have fun things planned for the weekend and that you're able to make some time to spend with those you love. Remember to give them a big ol' BEAR HUG and tell them how precious they are to you, cos we never know what's around the corner. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!!

CHEERS!
KRIS