One of the things that I hadn’t anticipated when I began blogging over two years ago was making new friends – not only online, but in real life.  I have been fortunate enough to develop friendships with a few people I’ve met through Brown Owls and through my blog, and feel so privileged to have had that opportunity.  I met Kellie when I chanced across her blog, marvelled at her truly wonderful quilting artistry, and won a giveaway.  It turns out that we live very near to one another, and we’ve now met up in person a few times.

Kellie is incredibly generous with sharing her time and with sharing her talent.  Her blog, Don’t Look Now!, is full of detailed tutorials and inspirational quilting – as well as tales about her delightful children.  I had morning tea with Kellie last week and not only did I get to check out her sewing room, impressive sewing machine, and even more impressive quilts, but she gave me this little cushion for Clare as a thank-you for buying her first pattern.

I am constantly picking it up to admire the detail and precision of Kellie’s work.  It is just so beautiful.  Check out this butterfly!

And look at how tightly and perfectly quilted it is.  The ladybugs are also superb:

I really admire Kellie’s talent, her dedication, her attention to detail, and her incredible eye for colour and form.  Her work is just perfect – she really is artistic and creative in every sense of the word.  Thanks so much Kellie – I am in awe!

I’ve said before that I don’t consider myself creative – I like to make stuff, and sometimes I even think I’m pretty good at it, but in my opinion it’s people like Kellie (and Jodie and Nikki and Kirsty among others) who are REALLY creative and artistic.  They can see beyond what is already out there and extend, expand, innovate, and truly make their craft their own.   Thanks so much to all of you for your generosity in sharing yourselves with me and keeping me so inspired.  You set the bar very high – and that’s a great thing.