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All the Animals in March

This year I've been sewing along with Angie @gnomeangel in the #elizabethhartmanalltheanimalssewalong with varying degrees of success. The first project was Fancy Forest - a project from my list. I made the foxes, the bunnies and a few hedgehogs and then I fell behind. The next planned project was The Kittens, which I decided to pass on. Then up was Awesome Ocean, another project from the list, and one which I had already bought the background for. February rushed past in a blur and I didn't make any blocks. March started, and looked like heading in a similar direction!

And then @gnomeangel launched a challenge. The Kittens and Awesome Ocean during March. One of each block  to a tight schedule. Well, I love a challenge. So I bought the pattern for the Kittens Quilt, because Jessica will love (not sure why I discounted it in the first place...). I even had fabric already in my stash for the backing (and wait until you see the backing fabric!). There are five kitten patterns, and I needed 6 of each for the full quilt. They were such a joy to stitch up that I now have 30 kittens, half sashed (must not let the sashing hold this project up).


The Awesome Ocean quilt was more of a challenge: there are nine different blocks and you need eight of each! And they are not quite the easy sew that the Kittens are. I did make at least one of each block according to the schedule, and I've made more of some. The seahorse is a particular challenge - lots of pieces! The fish blocks are pretty quick to come together. Whilst it's a good start, I still have quite a way to go with it. A big challenge is finding enough different peach fabrics, as I've added peach to my not-quite-rainbow colour scheme. I did a little shopping... and @archiewonderdog also sent me some scraps that were just perfect. So I think I can make it. Of course, picking all the fabrics for all eight blocks and then only sewing one block of each type, has led to piles and piles of fabrics all over my sewing desk - I need to get on with this project just because of the space it's taking up!



So over the next few months I need to finish up Fancy Forest, Awesome Ocean and the The Kittens Quilt, and then coming up is Greenhouse, which is the third quilt I planned to make in this quilt along. And then... I do like the flamingos, and I do need to make a baby quilt, and I do like the two-flamingo version... and my sster-in-law saw the Sloths (which aren't part of this quilt-along) and the unicorn (which is) and so we're looking at a sloth-unicorn quilt for her birthday too! That's in June when she turns 30. I love a challenge!

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Uh oh!!! *buys more biscuits for the tea tray* *buries head in hands*

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