The le challenge theme this month was charity. In January it was my turn as queen bee for the Simply Solids Amaranth group and I asked the bees to make me Herringbone blocks using this tutorial. I also asked for some solid strips to use as binding as I knew this would be a quilt to give to a local child.


I tried out lots of layouts but in the end settled for a random scrappy look, which I love! It makes nice wonky diamond patterns and shows off all the bright colours. I decided to do free motion quilting and used this brilliant tutorial. I changed the direction of some of the triangles and it works well with the quilt pattern. What I now realise is this type of fmq works much better on a smaller scale and I should have created more triangle shapes because I went big and it shows all of my 'not at all straight' lines. 


Thank goodness the quilt went all lovely and crinkly in the wash and it actually looks ok but when I do it again I will use a much smaller scale. I actually think all the fmq I've done that I am happy with is in small areas, so that might be a good plan for me to stick to generally. I used an equally bright backing fabric that ties in really well and I love the scrappy binding. Big thanks to the Amaranth Simply Solids bee for all the fabulous blocks and I know this quilt will be treasured by a very deserving child.



To learn more about charity quilts and to get some great free patterns please read Katie's recent post.

If you'd made anything for charity recently, or any makes that relate to the theme 'charity', such as charity shop buys or upcycled projects then come and join us at le challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.

Le Challenge


Have a lovely weekend!