Small red and blue baby quilt

I have finally managed to get a backing onto the small red and blue quilt top I made up last year.  It is unfortunate that when I washed it after it was sewn together that the red bled some into the white areas but it would have been worse had I washed the square before starting.  Because of shrinkage I had to trim off a significant portion of the right hand side set of squares but that it the way it goes when the fabric is not washed prior to cutting.  These were cut when I acquired them so I worked with what I had.  Still very happy to have managed to get it finished.  I used added a flannel sheet for batting and a polyester sheet for the backing. I cut it wide on each side and used it to created the binding as well.  I stitched the front to the batting on the seams and then handstitched two rows in between once I had the backing pinned in place.  I was able to better estimate my lines of hand stitching on this quilt because of the size of the pieces.  It is on its way to a good home next week!!           Therese

Exchange cards featuring resist backgrounds, die cut butterflies, wood grain tags and a bit of lace

I have had this paper in my background stash for quite a while and I believe it is gift wrap from a long ago special gift!!!  I have since cut it up into 4" x 5.25" pieces so I can have handy backgrounds for my cardmaking.  I discovered that the printing very nicely resists watercolour so I stamped on them and then added watercolour to give them a bit of interest.  Next I added a strip of handmade pattern paper washi tape and then adhered them to kraft cards. The wood grain tags were cut from the remnants of our Christmas crackers which our daughter included in our box of gifts.  I embossed them with a wood grain embossing folder and then sponged them with a bit of brown ink to highlight the texture.  I added a little bit of lace, a brown fabric tie at the top and then a butterfly die cut (TH-SX) which I embellished with clear glitter on the body and the wings.  I mounted the tags to my cards using 3D foam tape.  They are off to my Card Exchange partners in this week's mail!!

Therese