Love x eleventy billion

I have finished my XOXO quilt top! I am so excited/thrilled/happy/ridiculously pleased with myself over this one. I thought I loved it before... now I really don't know how I'm going to part with it!

The pattern is French Kisses by Tracey of Traceyjayquilts and the fabric is Sweet Lush by Patty Young with a basic aqua homespun from Spotlight. Fabulous pattern, easy to follow. I changed mine a little to make it bigger. I added a row of blocks at the bottom which I love because it completes the bottom large diamond, and I put the square borders on the sides for extra width.

I am so pleased I went with aqua for the borders. It was a toss up between aqua or green. I think the aqua sets the other colours off just beautifully.

This is the quilt top laid out on a double sized bed. So on a queen size I think those nice squarey borders will sit just on the edge of the bed and look quite delightful.

I have a bunch of the aqua left that I am going to use for the back. Unfortunately due to some wild children at the craft store (couldn't possibly be my little angels acting like hooligans and harrassing their mother to hurry up with her very important fabric shopping) and an extremely slow checkout girl, I didn't get enough fabric. I took whatever was left on the bolt, was given the offer to go get another bolt - looked at the two monsters monkeys and decided their tolerance level was at its peak. Just quietly, so was mine. So it'll be a pieced back. Not complaining, I love a pieced back. Plus it's a chance to use up what's left of the Sweet Lush FQ bundle :) Can't possibly waste that!

Speaking of leftovers... remember this 3" high pile of triangles?

I used up some to make these sweet little paper pieced blocks.Even the white is scrap fabric.

The pattern is Birdie Bird by Piece by Numbers. When I first started sewing about 18 months ago, I fell in love with these birds. They were the first pattern I bought online. I had no idea if paper piecing was hard or what to do, but I was determined to make some! I don't let skill level stop me trying something - I just dive right on in haha! I just came across those first attempts the other night and they actually aren't half bad!

Oh and my scrap pile after making these birdies? Yeah it looks like this:

Okay so that's a repeat photo but honestly I didn't even make a dent! I have some circle of geese templates (also from Piece by Number - a freebie too!) lined up for my next bout of sewing. It's possible I may make a ridiculous amount of cushions just to use up this fabric. No way is it going to waste! :)

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced :)