Some practise and a finish or two

When I looked at my to-do list at the start of the week, I wasn't sure how much of it I would get done, given that I had limited sewing time; however I came up with a clever idea and managed to kill two birds with one stone.
I wanted to do a little more practise of the scroll flower motif which Amy has introduced for this month's free motion Monday.  And I also wanted to make my ED a cushion as part of her birthday present this week.
Yep, you've got it, ED has a cushion with Amy's scroll flower on it!

First of all, a small amount of applique.....

then some quilting.......

Most of the photos have been taken at night and the colour is a bit
washed out. This is pretty close to the true colour.

It was good to have a project to work on, rather than just random quilt sandwiches. I like this scroll flower design; I used a lot of echoing to change direction and get out of corners. I think the echoing adds to the design.

I did this on my Bernina as my big machine is all set up with a quilt for the MOML.

— ta-da! One completed cushion!

ED and some friends came around for a birthday tea last night; during dessert I was able to grab a few moments to sew the last of the binding down.... it was a great way to get out of dessert duties (oh the joy of having adult children :-))... and in spite of a bit of guessing, I was able to keep what I was making a secret until handover :-)

Simple back with a splash of colour.

Another little giftie thing I completed earlier in the week is this little hanging, which I made for a friend. I used the spool pattern *here* on Edyta Sitar's Laundry Basket Quilts blog. It is an easy way to make the spools, starting with 5 equal sized squares which you cut up then sew back together (of course!)!

Always interesting, isn't it, to think, that it took 5 x 2inch squares to make
one 2.5inch block!!

I have been inspired by the Grinch and am trying to have a handmade (made with love) element in all my gift giving this year. I've got to the end of April and have managed so far, which is a good start, just need to keep it up...!!

The weather is certainly telling us that it is Autumn this morning, I think I am going to have to find some warmer clothes. Once the clouds burn off though, the day will likely warm up and we will be peeling off the layers! Maybe I could also warm up now with a bit of activity in the kitchen, and finish cleaning up after last night's dinner party :-)  (One drawback of dishwashers that you cant get all the dishes done at once - I wouldn't have it any other way though!)
Have a good day everyone,
Happy stitching and thank you for visiting,