Seeing Red!

Actually, today has been rather fine with minimal red mist, (bloody cold-calling PPI touts, please be gone!); I got a good haircut with a new hairdresser, my cousin gave birth to a baby girl and I got to play with lots of fabric.

Before I even began on November's Brit Bee blocks I had to nip back out to the village for thread, not normally being one of the red-persuasion.  The local quilting shop saved the day again, and almost tempted me to a one-day FMQ class... maybe next year!

Anyway... lovely Sarah posted a mosaic of blocks by Marianne of The Quilting Edge (new to me), and it was a bit of a shocker!  OK, not so much of a shocker of Jennie's face-off block, but just a teeny bit out of my comfort zone.

But hey, that's what Brit Bee is all about, for better, for worse and all that!

So head down, a little sketching and then I came up with these...

I am really pleased with how they turned out, although the backsides leave a little bit to be desired (so not new to me), and I really tried to get some decent photos to show how rich the shot cottons are, but red fabric and dull days never play nicely.

Tips for my fellow BBs, I didn't use any of the interfacing, I did use some of the shot cotton for the curves, it's not quite so easy to handle as the regular cotton, but I did those 2 DP sections without pins too. Plan your under/over strips carefully, or you may end up having to do a right-angle seam if you wish to avoid a join; I cut my strips to 1 1/8" but probably could have stuck to 1" to get a 1/2" strip, as some of my pieces are a little over 1/2", sorry Sarah.  I pieced all the strips, no appliqué.  There are a few slightly wonky bits, but I am sticking to the tried and tested theory that some quilting and a wash 'n' tumble with get rid of those!

I hope these fit in with your vision Ms O, I am sure you are going to have a corker of a quilt!