More free-motion quilting.....

Still not much in the way of stitching done here the last few days.  I have finished one of the secret projects which I am really pleased with.  It will now have to be wrapped and posted off.  I can't show you the finished project yet but I will give you another sneak peek.... this is how I decorated the hoop which frames it.....

And I added a cute little button too.....

I haven't summoned up the courage to start quilting the other secret project yet.... I am still practising my free motion quilting and, just on cue, Lori Kennedy of 'The Inbox Jaunt' is currently holding a sunflower quilt-a-long which I am following along with.  This week is week three but, it would be easy to catch up if you wanted to follow along too.

So far we have marked out the fabric ready for adding the quilting, quilted the centre of the sunflower and then added some petals.  I have made two versions.  For the first I chose a piece of hand-dyed fabric which I won in a giveaway from Magpie's Mumblings last year.  I thought it would be perfect as a sunflower but it wasn't as large as the fabric piece recommended for the QAL and I struggled with squeezing in the second set of petals, so I started with a second quilt sandwich which is slightly larger.

You had the option to either outline the central oval and then quilt in towards the centre or to start in the centre and quilt out, so I did one of each.  All good practice before I start on my quilt! I am very happy with how they are both are shaping up and I am looking forward to the next step.