Winter Project Link Party March 2017. A quilt for my sister.

This winter I have been joining Jennifer at Thistlebear in her Link Party, where happy crafters share their projects and encourage each other along during the dark winter months. It has been such an enjoyable link party, and I am sad to see it coming to an end for this year. Do pop over to Jennifer's blog and see what other folks have been making this month. 

Today I am sharing another quilt project. I realise that with the recent flurry of quilt posts my life must appear somewhat charmed, as though I am constantly to be found stitching quilts with no other calls upon my time. Nothing could be further from the truth, but the nature of blogs is such that it is more pleasant to read (and write) about the more picturesque aspects of life, and quilting is certainly that. 
This quilt is a gift for my sister, who is celebrating a milestone birthday this month. She will be receiving gifts from all of us, but I wanted to give her something that was just from me. It measures approx. 49"x55"; a good size for throwing over the back of a chair or sofa, or tucking round cold legs on a winter's evening. 

After my lofty proclamations about fabric choices in my last quilt post, I of course ended up making this quilt entirely from charm packs. Pride comes before a fall even in quilting. I had two charm packs tucked away in the sideboard in the sitting room, and bought two more on line. I really like the richness of the colours, and the blend of fabrics, and enjoyed laying them out to achieve a random design, my only criterion being that no two identical squares should touch. I then simply machined them into rows, and then machined the rows together. Even with the squares being ready cut, I still managed to create somewhat off centre piecing (note to self: work on accuracy).

For the backing I chose red and cream gingham; I really like the old fashioned effect of this fabric, it is gentle on the eye. I machine quilted in simple diagonal lines, then finished off with dark green binding, so the overall effect is rich and rather jolly, with a sprinkling of Christmas, or Little House on The Prairie, depending on preference (and the time of year).
 

Overall I am happy with this quilt, though I know some areas are far from perfect. I am looking forward to giving it to my sister, and I do hope she likes it and enjoys using it.
Thank you again to Jennifer for hosting this link up, and don't forget to visit her blog for more crafty goings-on.