the good, the bad and the ugly

Lets start with the good:

My challenge, set by the London Modern Quilt Guild for this month is to make something inspired by Valentines Day. I decided to make a hot pad (again for camping) focusing on the actual quilting. I am using a whole piece for the front and hand quilting heart shapes all over the front. 

It's not a great photo - but trust me, it's looking good.

The bad:

I finished the cushion cover, and it's on the sofa, but I just don't like it. It's too busy, the squares, the triangles, all those colours, all those prints. The are just fighting. 

 The back is more pleasing.

I have learned from my mistakes, I like lots of multicoloured quilts, but I have now realised that it's the ones with the simpler designs, that are broken up by lots of plain fabrics that I prefer.

The ugly: 

The back of the above mentioned hotpad. My stitching is A MESS. It's nice and neat and even on the front. The back. Eeeeuuuggghhh. Some teeny tiny barely there stitches, some wonky, some enormous and almost joining up.

I'm struggling to to do a whole stitch in one movement (down and up again), maybe it's the extra layer of InsulBright that's making it too bulky. Maybe I'm just making excuses. I have started going down, then up, then down, etc. It's looking a little neater, thank goodness this thing is small though.

Some more good:

Thank you to Flaming Nora for generously sharing this bundle of Joan's Scraps. Not sure what these will become yet, but there are some lovely fabrics indeed.

Some more good: 

Little Missy is all better, did you know Scarlet Fever is still around? Well it is, though I've never heard of anyone getting it before. Thankfully she's well again now, very worrying though.

Even more good:

over at Freshly Pieced.