My sister is amazing.

 For starters, she has me as a sister. Isn’t she lucky? Because then she gets awesome gifts like this:

(Details on this further down).

Okay so having me as a sister isn’t the only thing that qualifies her for being amazing. She is also a helicopter pilot. I think that’s pretty fabulous in itself. She decided before she turned 30, that an office job was not for her and she’s chased after her dream and has become a helicopter pilot. We’re pretty proud.



But then his happened.


This was a scary day for us all. Having a sister who is a helicopter pilot, you dread the phone call “Your sister has had an accident”. I got that call from my mum the other day. It’s possible I stopped breathing for a moment. Fortunately, there was a good result. Because my sister is amazing.

The helicopter started having engine trouble just after take off. My sister had passengers on board (a father and two children) when it happened. In a split second, she had to make the decisions that were going to save their lives. She realised she couldn’t get the helicopter back to the wharf in time, so she turned back towards the shore and took it in as close as she could, making an amazing emergency landing in the water. Then, upon smelling petrol, she got the helicopter shut down and the passengers out to safety. The news reports and officials involved have all praised her for doing such an amazing job.

Yeah. My sister is amazing.



Her poor helicopter then had to be rescued and flown off by another helicopter. Not a sight you see every day!!

So it’s been a pretty big ordeal, but with a happy ending. My sister flew by herself, just one week after this scary incident. Today she was going flying again with passengers for the first time since the emergency landing. It’s a .big. deal.

And it’s scary. So I wanted to make my sister a little gift to remind her that we have faith in her, and that she needs to have faith in herself and in God. I very nearly made her a cushion but why stick with a cushion when I have a spare canvas and a newly found addiction to a staple gun?



I used the Just My Type paper pieced alphabet patterns to make the word “faith” in black Color Weave on a white solid background.



Then added a little paper pieced bird in my sister’s favourite colour, in Sketch, with a few embroidered details.



I added a layer of batting, and then used the handy dandy staple gun to attach it to a 30cm (12”) square canvas. Now it’s ready to go!

I hope that having this as a bit of wall art is a bit more useful than a cushion. And just lets her know how much we think of her and how much faith we have in her that she go on with her dream and continue to be an amazing pilot.



I added a little verse about faith on the back – thought it was appropriate.



I’ll be posting this off to her tomorrow. I wish I could give it to her in person, along with a big hug and tell her just how proud I am. But I’ll add a note and send her to this blog post so she can read it for herself. She doesn’t usually check my blog until I force her, so if you feel like telling her she’s amazing in a comment, feel free

I think my sister is pretty amazing.