Day 1 - Paddington Bear Quilt #1 Completed

Well, this will be day one of three where I reveal my completed projects for January - on day three I will link up for the final time, for January that is, with 'A Lovely Year of Finishes'. So here is the first completed project - the first (of two) Paddington Bear Baby Quilts.

Today was a rather busy day - and all I had left to do on this quilt was to buy some fabric to complete the binding.

A sunny day in Wellington (one of many that metservice has predicted), and it certainly was not wasted. A lovely lunch down on the waterfront with Mum and Heidi, followed by a drive to Karori in relatively heavy traffic (weekend traffic is typically bad in Wellington, especially on a nice day - it really pays to have a bike!) only to miss the closing time for the Piece by Piece store (I have previously commented on how great this store is - I just want to reiterate that it is a great store!) by only 15 mins. So we back-tracked across town to Stitchbird in Kilbirnie, where I found a lovely little striped number for the binding which encompassed the all of the colors used in quilt. After dropping mum off back off at her hotel in town, I then made my way back home to complete the binding. Here is the final product....

This was my first attempt at a FMQ meandering pattern and it turned out surprisingly well. There are some areas of imperfection e.g. stitch length too long, or the meanders being a wee bit jaggered - but I felt at the time they were made, that they wouldn't be too noticeable once finished - when I look at the completed quilt now, I was correct to think this.

I was extremely pleased with the basting technique that Linda (Razzle Dazzle Quilter) provided me. Linda offers some great services so check her link out. I used an adhesive spray to baste the quilt, something that I have been told by a lot of people not to do (i.e. stick with pins) - however I found it easy to apply, it wasn't messy or smelly (I basted on my kitchen floor, and there was no residual stickiness on the floor), it made FMQ'ing a whole lot easier - and it almost felt like the quilt was completed before the FMQ'ing had even begun. I highly recommend using the spray adhesive - it definitely contributed to the fact that my first attempt at a meandering pattern was a success.

You may recall seeing the Paddington Bear below from one of my earlier posts, the sneak peek... well here he is on the completed quilt. This is probably my favorite block! One of the comments from my one of my previous posts, was to give the quilt away with one of the Paddington book's - I think that is a great idea and will pay a visit to the book store tomorrow to see what can be found!

Other good news, which I have been reluctant to share (with family & friends) until now, is that I got a promotion at work on Friday. Applied for the role on Thursday, interviewed a week later, and then given good news a day later (a very pleasant application process). No doubt I am very pleased with this and myself - but from a quilting perspective... this will mean more fabric = more sewing!

Now I can really enjoy my two weeks annual leave!

I also finished the RHCP quilt top this morning. This quilt top has changed so many times, to the point that I am no longer happy with it (no longer happy with the grey, nor with the bottom right block which was originally meant to be chili red on black) - but I will keep persisting. I likely use this as the backing of the quilt and come up with something different for the front. You may also notice that I have used a range of pinks and purples - colors that would not be considered and consistent choice for a guy!