Quilt - Project One, version 1

So this is what it looks like:

I'm about to unpick it and put a fabric around each square. I picked up this kicky polkadot fabric today and oh my, does it life the quilt to a whole new stratosphere or WHAT!

I could just border it, but there are too many corners not matching up. The worst is about 1/8inch and the ladies at the quilting store today were heaping praise on me for my first attempt. It did much to bolster my spirits.

That's right. I said kicky. NOT darling.

The slope. It is slippery.

Quilt - Project One

I need some help. The beautiful Duyvken sent me a package of squares to get me started quilting and I figured that seeing as they all belonged to the same family why not make quilt #1 from the range.

But here is the first hurdle.

I need some input/help/guidance/suggestions about the matching of colours/patterns.

This is what I've got:

Here's version 2

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

OK - UPDATED! -

After your comments (and OH MY GOODNESS thank GOODNESS all your Internet goodness is feeling so charitable at the moment) I have had a couple more plays. Whaddyathink?

Version 3

Version 4

Version 5

Gremlinbat

When I was working on The Cow Felix was absolutely intrigued with the whole process - the idea of a pattern, cutting it out, sewing it together, embellishing it - fascinated he was. Absolutely fascinated. So much so that he drew up his own pattern for a creature that he wanted me to make for him.

Well that pattern was a bit of a challenge due to it being the size of a 50cent piece. Well not quite, but too small for my novice hands to manipulate through the Mighty Matilda.

So, I just upscaled it and cut it out. Again, an Ikea fabric was requested. The ears are simply felt and the various buttons used come from my mum's stash.

The hand stitching along the bottom is blanket stitch, something I was very proud of myself to relearn thanks to a few different videos on YouTube!

And in the beginning...

there was a cow:

Fabric from IKEA
Pattern from Meet me at Mike's: 26 crafty projects and things to make
He is the "Udderly lovely cow" project by Fliss Dodd
She recommends it is suitable for the confident beginner and should take about three hours. So naturally, having not sewed in 23 years it was the perfect project for me...
All up it probably took me about six hours, but that was including all the faffing around with setting up the machine, reading the manual, staring at the fabric and wondering where to begin and so on and so forth.

OH, and this is Matilda, my new best friend: