Our weekend in London was prompted by an invitation from dear friends to a celebration at The Goring hotel on Monday evening.  To mark forty years in the travel industry, a very small (and very select!) group of us looked forward to sharing a delightful evening together and we both felt a commemorative gift was very much in order.

I had mulled over several ideas.  I’d perused the Spoonflower site, thinking that I’d find an appropriate vehicle to depict in a cotton fabric and whip up a couple of pairs of boxer shorts.  Of course, I’d do that in no time at all, they’d work out perfectly and be an overnight success…

Or?

Perhaps I’d left it too late.  I thought again.  How about getting a metre or so of moquette and making a cushion or two.  Better still, how about buying a couple of ready made cushions ?  But these wouldn’t be personal to our friend, and even though I don’t notice that each company has a specific pattern, I was mixing with people who Knew About Such Things.

With less than a week to spare, inspiration struck.  The “Subway Art” project I’d learned in an online workshop last year would be perfect and with Mary here too, I’d have some useful support (she had worked through the same class as me).  With help from my hero and a few pertinent questions we gathered the names of the various workplaces and last Tuesday morning we cranked up Photoshop to create a masterpiece.

 

 

Ta Dah!

(and now what?)

The answer was found thanks to google and a little imagination.  In the space of an hour, I’d uploaded the artwork, spoken to a delightful lady at Meshtex who reassured me that my order would receive speedy attention and they’d turn it around as quickly as possible.

She was as good as her word.  Less than 48 hours later, a courier arrived at the door with a package containing these

 

 

Two tea towels (Made in England!) and an apron, perfectly printed with the design I’d created.  To say we were thrilled is an understatement.

We weren’t the only ones, either ;-)