From Eagles to The Girls

Now part 2 is only partly to do with Aussie Heroes but it is such a good story that it deserves to be told and if you stick with it to the end you will see I get back on the Aussie Hero Track.  

add link for part 1

So, are you ready for part two to the story?  If you don't know what I am talking about you need to go and check out Part 1 here...

..... and so the story continues.  

So Marg made a fabulous Eagles laundry bag for Molly and in return she received a really lovely thank you from her.  Now Molly didn't ask for a quilt but Marg, being Marg, felt she deserved one.  Only problem was, after sewing the hundreds (well I am sure it felt like hundreds) of Eagles laundry bags for all the blokes it was now too close to Molly's RTA (Return to Australia) date for Marg to get a quilt made and sent to her whilst overseas.

What to do?

Not to be bothered by that Marg checked with me that it would be okay to arrange an AHQ for Molly  and then she used to ace up her sleeve.  When Molly had emailed to thank Marg for her laundry bag she had also addressed the email to her mother.  Marg sent an email to Molly's mother explaining that she would like to make a quilt for Molly.  She asked for a suitable address to send it to and then asked for a little input regarding Molly's tastes and interests.    Before long she had all the information she needed.  

First she needed inspiration!  Apparently Molly loves to shop!  Well who doesn't!  Turned to a favourite old card she had bought ten years ago but would there be a problem with Copyright. 

Easily solved or so Marg thought - write a letter and ask permission.

BA HA HA HA HA!!!

First a note from Marg...

Hello Jan-Maree

AND I THOUGHT THE EAGLES LOGO WAS ENOUGH...

just read below from the very start when i was seeking permission 
to use the image on Molly's quilt.. [copyright fear]

............  no more bright ideas from here and if i ever make any... shoot me instantly!

m

x

LOL

Dear Sarah,

About 10 year ago I bought a Doc Milo card.

May I request permission to copy the gorgeous  drawing and make a wall hanging quilt, please?  It will be for personal use, not commercial sale, but may be exhibited in a local quilt show, in which case credits will be given to Doc Milo.

Is this possible please?

Sincerely

marg waters

western australia  

Don't you love the card?

Back came the reply...

From Sarah

that is the sweetest email I have gotten all day and quite frankly it has been a day in which a sweet email is wildly welcomed!

and yes, you are more than welcome to use it for a quilt - how fabulous! but one condition: will you promise to send me a photo? ;)

I have to say that I do really like the sound of Sarah!  Don't you?

Hello Sarah,

I am so happy to make your day!  You have made mine even more!!

I took the risk and started the image. There is more "shopping" yet to be sewn.  

All of the white you can see on the image will be cut away except for a 1/4" then the gorgeous girl will be sewn onto another background quilt top.  Top to toe the image is 30"

I promise to send you a photo of the finished quilt.

...and Sarah, thanks a million; you are very creative and talented.

kindly

marg

Can you imagine Sarah's reaction seeing Marg's version of her card in fabric?

oh my god. oh my GOD. OH MY GOD!

that is the most beautiful thing i have ever seen!

oh. my. god.

i cannot believe you made that., i cannot believe you picked my design to make it from. and i cannot believe i don't have one for me! :)

would you ever make a second??? i can't even imagine what that quilt takes to make, but i can tell you that that card was designed with a quote from my grandmother (basically the love of my life) and i literally have tears in my eyes looking at it thinking how much she would have loved it.

what do you think you would have to charge to make more??? i would LOVE to give these as holiday gifts for my mother and aunt (her only two daughters). of course understand if it takes way too long to ever make another but can't help asking. but either way, just know even seeing this has so much more than made my day you have no idea.

seriously, thank you so much for this. the quilt, the sweet email earlier. and this unbelievable photo.

i honestly can't even explain how much i appreciate your having sent this to me.

PLEASE promise to send a final photo! can i post it on our blog???

okay, will stop gushing now, but am fairly well in love with you for life.

Well, Marg being Marg, and with a heart totally made of marshmallow and as soft as can be, just could not resist such heartfelt enthusiasm and appreciation.

Look what she did!

Three more gorgeous girls!

And each one just as fabulous as the next but all different!  

 Check out the Emu feather in their hats 

and their gorgeous jewelry!

It took a little while for Marg to hear back from Sarah after she had posted these off as "life got in the way" for Sarah as we all know it sometimes does and I won't go into that here as it is not necessary but here is what IS necessary.

dear marg-

i wanted to write you to let you know that there is a very happy day coming in my life this week, and it's all thanks to you. thursday is the anniversary of my grandmother's death (yes, the infamous myrtle matz!) and my mother and aunt and i are finally getting together all in one place for the first time in months and months.

and guess what that means? yes! i finally get to open your AMAZING gift!

i know it seems crazy that i have held on to it this long but really wanted to give your beautiful work the special attention it deserved, and ripping it open alone while racing from one place to the next just never felt right. so i have kept that box on my desk waiting for the perfect moment, originally thinking hannukah until hannukah was cancelled due to illness, but now it seems like it was meant to be - that we would open them on our annual celebration of our love for myrtle.

i will never be able to tell you what your kindness means to me and now will mean to our entire family, but from the sound of your last email you are just spreading kindness globally all the time.  sending quilts to the troops is just brilliant!

you are a fantastically talented woman, and i will always treasure having been such a lucky recipient of your work. can't wait to tell you all about our "opening day"!!!

thank you again...so very much.

Would we all not wish to be even half as cherished as the marvelous sounding Myrtle.

Opening Day

Okay. I will write you a much longer letter when I get home but for now just thought you'd like to know...the three of us have been standing over these for 45 minutes saying the words "oh my god!" And "unbelievable" over and over again like crazy people. 

My mother is crying and Janice and I can't close our mouths.

Honestly, I can't even find words. These are absolutely incredible. Incredible. I honestly can't even believe how amazingly  generous you are. Feel like the luckiest girl on earth.

Thank you doesn't come close.

This is Sarah with her mother on Opening Day.

And now at last we come back to Molly's quilt.  Here it is in all it's glory - no cigarette for this health conscious athletic girl.  Just a glamorous fan and a gorgeous purse to hold the credit card for more shopping!

Now I am not going to explain the significance of the fabrics Marg chose for Molly's quilts as I think that is a bit personal and not really necessary to the story - let's just say they are perfect!

As I said earlier, Molly was home from Operation Slipper by the time her quilt was finished so Marg posted it off to Molly's parents and they held on to it till the whole family got together for Christmas.  Not long after this message appeared in Marg's inbox.

Merry Christmas Marg!!

Thank-you so much for the beautiful quilt! I absolutely love it, it is my favorite Christmas present. You are such an amazing and generous lady, I will treasure the quilt forever. It will keep my warm and loved in Canberra for next winter and I am sure many more. 

I have attached a photo of my brother and I, hopefully he will email you soon. He loves his bag and thought I had paid someone to make it for him.

Thanks again and have a wonderful Christmas!

At last Molly's brother had his laundry bag and Molly had her quilt and Marg........well she went on to make other goodies for family and friends and then she got stuck tidying her sewing room and found enough fabric to make a FEW laundry bags.......

And just before I go - if you love Sarah's card as much as I do then you might want to check out her blog here     Ahhhh  Too much FABULOUS in oneplace!

Till next time...................keep spreading that word and happy stitching!