Free Motion Mavericks - Week 30 - A Green Cot Quilt

Here it is, the latest stash busting cot quilt, this time in green.  Thanks having to take indoors photos on dreary grey days, the camera can't cope with the lovely subtle shades of green, so the photos turned out sludgy grey too.  I have spent ages adjusting the colours on the computer to get them as close to the real thing as possible.  The colours on the close ups are more accurate.

Even though  was avoiding pink, I couldn't resist using this gorgeous print with peachy pink and yellow flowers on a soft green background.

Two fabrics in particular bring the whole colour scheme to life.  Firstly, this golden yellow flower print with bright green leaves, which I have had stashed since some time in the late 1970s.  I can't remember who gave it to me, but it was probably a few years old by then.

Secondly, this vibrant russet brown, which was sent from the USA by one of my doll quilt swap partners.

The border print is the jolly nursery print of toys hanging out their washing, the muted green version of the pink print I have used on previous cot quilts.

There is another sweet nursery print in the top, which gave an entertaining detail.  This little dog had his head sliced by a seam and ended up with a headdress (or is it a hairdo?) made from half a daisy in the adjacent print.

The quilting is an all over swirly pattern, just like the last quilt.  This time I worked the lines of swirls down the quilt, rather than across, because it looked better crossing the strips of colour on the front rather than running parallel.  I thought it would be a quicker and easier job than the last time, but it wasn't.  Even though it was easier to see where I was going, because the colour were much easier on the eye,  I slightly scuppered myself by not checking my needle first.  Once I had done about three quarters of the quilting I realised the reason that occasionally stitches were being skipped as I quilted across seams, was that the needle was getting blunt.  Then it dawned on me that I was hearing that thunk thunk noise (which, perversely, I rather like) every time I went over a seam - a sure sign that the needle isn't as sharp as it should be.  

Here goes for week 30...

Many thanks to Carole, Maartje, Gwyned, Hilary, Deanna and Alison for linking up last time.  

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
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3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand and France have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Welcome to Connie, the latest follower - thank you for joining!

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday