I met Cheryl and Laura when our family moved to Victoria in 1969.  We immediately became friends and have stayed best pals since then.  Even though they live in Victoria and I’m in Vancouver we see each other often.  Our husbands are close friends as well and we all get together for a couple of weekends each year.

Each summer the six of us gather at our home on Denman Island for a weekend. We often do a craft on those weekends.   In 2014 I wanted to do a special project with the girls – a Girlfriend Quilt.  The instructions were for each of us to purchase six fat quarters, (18″ x 22″ pre-cut fabric pieces).  They could be anything that we liked, even if they didn’t go together, and could include one solid colour.  No shopping together, and no sharing; this was to be a surprise.

I pre-cut the background strips, based on what the girls told me they’d like.  When we were together we revealed our fabrics, cut them into 4 1/2″ squares and began to place them according to a pattern that I’d drawn up.  This was the fun part because the ‘rules’ stipulated that we had to use at least one of all of the fabrics.  Our tastes are very different.  Cheryl loves muted tones. Laura loves bright and bold colours and I tend toward the unusual novelty pieces. It was hard to imagine how this variety of choices would look together.

Fast forward another month or so and the three quilts had been pieced, quilted and bound.  I have to say that they surpassed my expectation.  They look great and the girls love them.  I have a vision of the three of us, in 30 years, sitting with our Girlfriend Quilts wrapped around our legs and laughing like we have for the past 46 years.