Butterflies and Vines

I finished this quilt today, and am so very pleased about it, having

started it over 2 years ago. :) I gave it to Mum, because she loves butterflies. This is the first free-motion quilting I've done, and I'm not doing too badly with it, really. More practice will improve me I'm sure.

I hid the occasional heart in the quilting, but mostly it was leaves throughout. Plus a "for Mum" and "love hope".

I love the back fabric :

A Pretty Posy

I went for a little walk before lunch and came across many areas of pretty flowers, growing in the wild along the railway track, some of them weeds. Still, even weeds have pretty flowers, so why shouldn't we enjoy them. A few now grace the window sill in my kitchen (which is waiting for a second coat of paint...) pretty much plonked in a glass just as they were picked.

Making it up as I go along

I had the urge to sew on Sunday, after getting out my Nature's Chorus layer cake and finally opening it to see all the fabrics. So, no plan in mind, and just moving squares of fabric around on our dining table, I started to cut and sew.

This is what I've got so far:

In doing this I have discovered a few things. First, layer cakes are not necessarily square, and not square either (meaning the dimensions aren't exactly 10 by 10 inches, and the corners are not 90 degrees). Not according to my quilter's ruler anyhow.

Second, making things up as I go is a lot of fun.

Third, I am not nearly so fussy with my points when I sew this way. Good or bad?

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is the name of the really cute papers from Cosmo Cricket, used for the following two creations. The little critters are so adorable :)

I went to a scrapbooking retreat recently organised by Scrapsidaisy, and we were given a challenge pack with these papers, some buttons, Kaisercraft alphabet stickers, velvet ribbon and sticky-back felt. This is my creation - and it got third prize :)

There were plenty of leftovers, which of course I kept, and one thing I've done so far is this card for my brother. The dashed lines on the black are done with a Souffle pen from Sakura. I love how well they stand out on black.

Thank You

Gosh, what a long time since I posted anything on here. Well, here's the first card I've made this year, done for a challenge at the Zest blog to use red, white and blue, plus star embellishments. The main image is from Whiff of Joy, coloured with pencil, and the fancy bit along the bottom is a stamp by Fiskars.

I think there is something not quite right with it, not sure. Anyhow, done now!