Grover's Quilt - the start

The first quilting fabrics I bought were the sage green polka-dot for sashing the lap quilt I made, using the present from Duyvken and a fabric kit loaded with primary colours and children's pictures in that retro feel. That kit has sat next to the machine since then. I've known I was going to use it for a quilt for Grover but I just didn't know how I was going to put it together. 

Anyway, after making my brain melt last week working out the maths of it all, here are the initial 10 blocks!

 

I think I'm going to use a basic black for sashing and the back. I also have a group of the images above in 4x4 inch boxes so will do a panel incorporating them along the back as well. 

Onward!

A wedding quilt

OH MAN, have I been BUSTING to tell you all about this one.

Our friends E & D were married in February and I had decided to make them a quilt to mark the occasion. Oh sure, it's a few months late but hey, I actually delivered!

Choosing colours was a synch when E mentioned that red and blue together were her favourite colours - red as in a ruby red and blue as in a clear cornflowery blue.

There was a mild hiccup in proceedings as mis-judged my seam allowance on the small four-patch block, giving them 3/8inch instead of 1/4inch. So, the middle square of the bigger blocks had to be reduced and then the strips around them adjusted too. Oy. Anyway, I got there in the end and added an extra border to make-up for the slightly smaller size.

Pink Cat

I made this on Christmas night for my niece. Because of the sleep deprivation on Boxing Day I totally forgot to take a photo of her backside, on which I attempted my first ever hand stitched embroidery. I did a fancy E for her name.

I initially called her Pink Cat because I'm nothing if not original but Jasper rejected that and called her Colourful Cat.

 
The googly eyes were a bit of an experiment and someone (RicRac maybe?) gave the tip of using tooth-threader to really hold them in place. They're stitched on but then I used some threader and tied them off on the back.

How good is my blanket stitching these days! (Especially considering I was doing it at around 1am on Boxing Day...

Her belly is this gorgeous fabric (maybe a Prints Charming?) that I just adore - it's all oranges and yellows and greens with fairies and love hearts. I fussy cut this bit to get the gorgeous fairy on her tummy as well as some love hearts.

At first I thought it was a dud gift as another relative had given her this life-like cat which purrs and meows and probably makes breakfast but then I discovered she has been taking her to bed every night and well, I'm just tickled pink.

Here's the dress