Lotsa Stitching!!!

It's my Father-in- law's birthday on Thursday and we were wondering what to get for him. My SIL suggested a throw rug for these cool winter nights ... well, as a quilt-maker I couldn't bring myself to buy one, so with a whole week (lol and a very optimistic attitude) to make it I set about hunting for the fabrics from my stash. I found some gorgeous garden themed Maywoods that I've had squirreled away for a few years ... perfect!! He loves his garden!! Here's what they became ...I didn't realise I had so much of the panelled fabric, so it also became the backing :o).....DH wasn't keen on the fabric I had chosen for the border so I popped out after my quilting class yesterday and got some more ... he's right, I think this will look better than what I had :o).Not a very good piccy - I wish you could see the quilting better, but I've done leaves and vines on the border - I'm enjoying practising my free-motion quilting lately, such fun!!! I'm using the lighter weight bamboo batting and it's just a dream to work with. The family will be coming for lunch on Saturday so I've got loads of time to get it finished LOL. Hope he likes it :o).

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As I mentioned before, I went to a quilting class yesterday - it was loads of fun!! We had a choice of 3 projects to choose from and this is the one I chose ...I've never done a round quilt before, never used a 10 degree ruler either so this was all a fabulous learning experience for me. Our teacher, Jan Phillips , was terrific ... she never missed a beat with us all doing different projects .... we had such fun and I can't wait to take another class!! Here's a pic of some of the girls hard at work ... sorry it's a bit dark. That's Jan in the white shirt in the middle of the pic. And here's me with Jan ...that quilt behind us is another of the projects that we could have chosen to do. And here's my table-topper ... well, half of it LOL.....I've stepped right outside of my usual "box" with these orientals ... and I have to say, I really do like them :o).

What have you been sewing this week???