This and That

Time has run away with me again.  I always find that this time of year just sneaks up on me, and all of a sudden, I am running to keep up with life in general.

Tomorrow the littlest member of our family will turn 9.  So we've been busy making a birthday cake to take to school... and she's got a fun day planned with friends on Saturday.

We're going to try making a sandwich with jam and then chocolate buttercream icing to top. Yum.

Then this week sees the end of the school term, so I'm frantic clearing my desk at work so hopefully things there will progress as smoothly as possible while I'm away. 

Last night was the open night at the College Dylan will be attending next year as a Year 7.  For the old school... this is Form One Intermediate.  I don't think I'll ever get used to the "year" system.

Last weekend I had a work colleague come around for some FMQ tuition... and this weekend another work colleague will come around to make another Amy Gibson BOM block.

On the sewing front, I've been plugging away at Bluebirds & Berries... now the entire centre panel is quilted.  I think that deserves a Woohoo!!!

I discovered this little filler pattern from Jess at The Elven Garden (it's like a mini clam shell with an echo round)... although she demonstrates a larger version of this pattern, it is super for filling in and around tiny applique spaces... who would have thought?

I also decided to do a wishbone sort of pattern around the first cream border.  I'll probably repeat this in the dark narrow border too.
 

I just winged this one, no marking... the pattern evolved somewhat from start to finish (as they usually do) but I think the biggest change to technique was when I realised I shouldn't be quilting side to side... because the whole quilt was never going to fit into the throat space, and changed to quilting down the border (which made a lot more sense, but affected the style of the quilting pattern).

This is the start and finish meeting point, see how it started quite roundy... and ended up quite pointy...

Now it's onto quilting the first applique border.  I'm thinking about a bit of a doodle mix to fill in the spaces... but at the same time this scares me silly.  It is a large area... crap, what was I thinking??? 

I spent a blissful wee "child free" while petting fabric at my fav The Country Yard, choosing a mix of fabrics to add to the original bundle to match this bunting fabric.  I have been asked to make a cot quilt for a yet to be born baby girl... with the request for very girly. I really like the way this bundle has grown.

Although I love the fabrics with the bunting... I would really want to use white as my background to make all those fabrics pop... but I know it is just hopelessly impractical.  So I've decided to keep the bunting for the back, and use this soft pink spotty speckle for the background.

A what I hear you ask?... well what would you call it?  It looks like a spotty speckle to me.

Once I had the fabrics sorted out, it was just time to find a design.  These blocks are still lying around my studio, and are a block that I absolutely love.  Wouldn't it be cool to just blow this block up to about 36"?  and add a narrow background border...

...and replace the centre framed square with an applique block.  That would be a 12" square - plenty big enough to fit something interesting and girly.  I can't decide whether to use this vase block?

Or this basket one?

 Come on people... give me a hand.  Which one (once it's done in my fresh girly fabrics of course) reads as more baby girly to you?