Picnic Quilt back done

I cannot take credit for this design - I saw someone's quilt on Flickr using this idea and thought what a great way to create a back - it's using scraps of all the fabrics used in the front - genius!

And you see the piecing I had to do to the left below the "squares" block? Well that's what happens if you measure a block before pressing - a whole 1/2" out when I came to piece this monster. So frustrating but I was not going to be beaten! So, I cut a 1" strip and pieced it in. Once it's quilted it will look fine. Infact, I didn't think it actually looked that bad once it was there. I do quite like the look of pieced bits of fabric in quilts. Maybe I'm just strange

The stress did not finish there. I took out my Warm & Natural batting - I tend to buy either Baby Size or Twin Size pre-packaged - it's easier for me to store in this ever shrinking house (or so it seems - maybe that's just having growing children!!). Anyway, I cannot recall when it happened but when I lay it out, there was a huge chunk taken out of the corner! I can only guess that I used this aaaaaages ago when I figured I would never use a piece of wadding that size & cut some off for bag making - who knows? So, again I kept calm, sliced the bit from the bottom and pieced it into the corner

I simply butted the two pieces of wadding against each other and used a large zig zag to keep them stitched together. I can't tell you how chuffed I am with that little job - I will definitely be giving this another go. And now the quilt is 3/4 quilted with straight lines and you would never know! It's going to be a picnic quilt anyway so I figured it was worth a try. So chuffed I am!

I'll leave you with a close up of the block used on the back. Hopefully this will be finished in the next couple of weeks. Work is getting busy - Lianne had the week off last week leaving me to fend for myself (which I don't do terribly well!) She's back tomorrow & boy have I missed her. Our kits are being posted this week so it's all systems go to get those ready for the Royal Mail lorry arriving Thursday followed by the Twins' birthday celebrations commencing Friday for the weekend. Maybe next week I can get back to this baby...................

Another dress................

I couldn't resist having another go with this pattern, with my own fabrics this time. It was easier using cotton rather than velvet for the yoke and trims. It was also very annoying when I realised that I hadn't cut the fabric very economically, not leaving enough for the back, meaning I had to piece it. It worked, though. And Amelia is very pleased with it, which is  a relief.

So this is her, wearing her dress before going off to nursery yesterday morning. She and James both dress themselves, choosing their own clothes (which is great 99% of the time). Today, unusually for her, she wanted sleeves, so we  added a long sleeve tee underneath

And here is what happens when you ask a 3 year old to model new clothes for you:

They really just don't like to stand still for the camera! Oh and yes, they are ankle socks she insists on heaving up to her knees every morning. Loving the on up one down look, Amelia