The Big Reveal

What an exciting weekend I had !
Just over a year ago Maria invited me to join a quilting bee.
We each made one strip of a quilt and then posted it onto the next person, who added a strip and so on until everyone had contributed to every quilt.
We agreed to not post photos of the quilt as it progressed, but instead we sent a journal along with the quilt and everyone wrote about the blocks they added and included photos of the progress in the journal.
We decided it would be a lovely idea to all meet up to give the completed quilt tops back to their owners and Jen very kindly offered to host it for us.
We were blessed with a wonderful sunny day and were able to take our quilts into her garden for the Big Reveal.

This is Sarah opening hers.

Next it was Amy's turn.

Then me !! I think you can tell by the ear to ear grin on my face just how pleased I was with this!

I started it off with the  third row down. Just look at all the different blocks the others added. There are cotton spools, baskets, pinwheels, 16 patches and stars. Some people even used organic cotton as they know I like it so much !

Thank you dear friends !!

Jen our wonderful host, had said in her journal that she liked pink and purple, so we took her at her word and made the brightest quilt imaginable. I think she likes it, don't you?

Maria our Queen Bee was next up. I love her quilt so much. She started it off with the row of houses and I'm definitely going to be making some houses since seeing them. I made the birds on the top row. I actually blogged about them here. I just didn't let on what they were for!

Finally it was the turn of Fran. I don't know how she managed to wait her turn!!

So, six wonderful quilts filled Jen's washing line and we all clicked away excitedly with our cameras.

I am so grateful to Maria for inviting me to join this Bee. It was wonderful to finally meet everyone, and so kind of Jen to host it for us. We had so much to talk about and the time passed so quickly, but at least now, whenever I look at my quilt, I can remember the people I met and our day together.

We sometimes have a tendency to over concentrate on the design, or the fabric choice or the skill when making a quilt, but really they are the sum of their parts and much, much more. They are the thought and kindness that went into making them. They are the comfort and pleasure they give to their recipient. They are a little piece of history.
My quilt and it's  journal will be certainly be treasured, along with the friends I've made along the way.

PS I hope my Bee friends are OK with me posting these photos of you. If not, just let me know and I'll take them down :-)