wrapped in love... a secret project

Often photos don't do justice to a quilt and that's certainly true in this case. In the last few months, I was fortunate to be part of a collaborative quilt for my friend, Belinda. The last couple of years have been rough for her family, and so her friends decided that she needed to be wrapped in love. Not just any quilt would do for Belinda though, because she's a few special gal. She's the one who introduced me to Suzuko Koseki fabrics and to the joy of Jen Kingwell. She's shown me so much in quilting and fabric as she has for many others too. We decided a sampler quilt would be perfect for her because everyone could share a piece of themselves as they created something for special for the quilt. Inspired by samplers like Green Tea and  Sweet Beans and the Patchwork 163 book, we set to work making blocks.

Over the last couple of months, they arrived at my house. What came back was truly amazing. I was worried that I couldn't do them justice assembling them. Luckily Jenna and Lorena were right at hand to work through the puzzle, sewing and sharing their stashes to help finish the quilt top. Leah then sent down acres of Kaffe Fassett voile to Jeannette who quilted it up in a weekend and sent it back. After a mad dash at handbinding, a special quilt was ready to be shared.

Thank you Ayumi, Carmen, Cherry, Dolores, Gayle, Jeannette, Jen, Jenna Kerry, Kylie, Leah, Lorena, Melanie and Penny

Truly, the photos don't do the blocks justice.  And, of course, it was dark and grey in Sydney so we haven't managed a proper shoot of if quilted yet. Soon, I promise. In the mean time, here's a peak at what's secretly been keeping us busy:

And Belinda?

I'd say she's really happy.