Thursday 14 August 2014

Joy of Life

Last week I met for the first time a very dear and special friend who arrived in the UK from Sweden to visit the Festival of Quilts. She came bearing the most beautiful gift. I had seen glimpses of this quilt as it was being made but with no idea it was for me.

It is called Joy of Life and is a pattern by Rosalie Quinlan. It is simply beautiful and I love it. The quilting on it is amazing and I shall treasure it for always.



Made for me by this beautiful lady known as Stina. We met through blogging, have very much in common and met for the first time last week. We are soul sisters.


Stina brought with her these equally beautiful ladies.

Karin, Marica, Stina.

Stina and Lilian. They were sitting on the naughty seats on the back row of the bus.


We stayed near the iconic Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham and Friday night we ate out at Jamie Oliver's Italian. We had a great night and I have never laughed so much. These Swedish ladies were the best company. You can read and see more at Stina's and Marica's blogs.


This church is right by the Bullring and looked beautiful lit up.


I came away from Birmingham feeling  tired  but good tired. Shopping is exhausting you know but it could have been from carrying multiple bags of purchases. I am in weight training for next year. I came back with an impressive haul of goodies but the most impressive treasures are the memories that are firmly printed in my brain of this fabulous time with the most wonderful ladies who I can now call friends. 

These are the of the Joys of Life.

Happy Stitching.

Shirley.x


19 comments:

  1. What an amazing gift from Stina... you really must be sisters under the skin. It's gorgeous. Glad you girls had a fantastic time in Birmingham and shopped till you dropped by the sound of it. Hope you get to do it all again next year..... hugs xx

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  2. sounds like an amazing time meeting your swedish friends and such a generous gift from Stina.
    How wonderful.

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  3. Wonderful quilt gift and meeting ! XXX

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  4. That is a wonderful gift. I'm so glad you were able to meet and had such a lovely time.

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  5. Glad that you enjoyed the FOQ. I was shattered after coming away.....glad that you had such a good time with your friends...

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  6. You are a lucky lady to get such a thoughtful and beautiful gift! It seems you had a great time in Birmingham, meeting "old" blogging friends for the first time.

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  7. Your gift from Stina is gorgeous and lovely quilting. It was so nice to meet you and I hope that we seen again next year <3

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  8. Sounds like a wonderful time in Birmingham and WOW what a truly amazing and beautiful gift. Take care

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  9. How fantastic! What a great visit and I'm very jealous you went to the show.

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  10. It sounds like a most fabulous time Shirley. It's so great when we finally meet people whom we already know so well! A truly beautifl gift from Stina.

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  11. What a priceless gift! It is beautiful.

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  12. Your gift is beyond gorgeous! What a delightful time you had with your friends.

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  13. You must have had such a wonderful time all together. Your gift is beautiful and it must bring a smile to your face very time you look at it .

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  14. What a wonderful gift to receive, Shirley! You are a very lucky lady to have a friend like that!

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  15. Hello Soul sister.... What a beautiful post you have made... And Ahhh.. Now it's my turn to shed some happy tears...I so miss you and your lovely smile... I long till we can meet up again...I will try and save every penny I have to spare... I wouldn't want to miss birmingham next year!!! And it sure was my pleasure to make this quilt for you...my joy !! Lots of love!!

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  16. Such a precious gift and story.

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  17. Hi Shirley,
    Thanks so much for your comment. It would be lovely to meet for coffee. I'll leave my phone number with Joan at Dotty Dolly.

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  18. Oh it is lovely!! You are so lucky...not only to be the new owner of such a gorgeous quilt but to have made such a good friend too!

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  19. That quilt is beautiful and pinks - just right for you! Laughing so hard is great therapy. Sounds like a great trip with great friends.

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