ORBC tickertape quilt along and a parcel from Deeroo

I decided to take part in the latest Old Red Barn Quilt Along. These have been going for a few years now and though some of my very good blogging friends have been involved I haven't managed to get my act together to join in before.

This time it is Dolores's turn from Deeroo blog. She is doing a tickertape quilt. I had not come across this before but it seemed such an easy and clever idea, that I had to jump in! The idea is that you make up your quilt sandwich with whole-cloth front, wadding and backing, then you pin or glue your fabric pieces on and then quilt the whole thing!

Originally Dee was showing just square pieces sewn round the edge leaving a 1/4 inch of raw edge. Once you wash the quilt the edges go nice and fluffy. But there has been some amazing creativity going on in the ORBC group and some people have been trying FMQ and all sorts of pictorial collage possiblities too.

It was meant to be a scrappy quilt but, as I decided I wanted to use a heart shape instead of square/rectangles, I didn't have very many big enough scraps. Also I wanted this to be a cot quilt for a baby girl so I needed to raid my stash for pinks and pastels. I used a lovely piece of stripey Greengate fabric for the back and a very good quality cotton sheet for the front. I used the solid pink for binding.
 
I spent a good while cutting out the hearts using pinking shears, but really I shouldn't have bothered because once it was washed you couldn't tell it had been pinked at all - I will just use scissors next time! I used a glue stick to stick the hearts down and then pinned it all too.

And then I really went for it with the free motion quilting! If you remember, a few weeks back I was asking for advice about machine quilting and you were all very informative. I have done this before but it was so long ago it did take me a while to get back in to the stride of it. And thanks, Lynz, for the tip about using polyester thread. I tried the cotton first but it kept breaking so switched to polyester and it didn't break once!
The photo above is after I had washed, dried and therefore 'crinkled' it. I wish I had taken a photo before I did this as I was really quite pleased with my 'meandering'. But, boy, was it exhausting! I think I had my tongue poked out in concentration for the whole time!

But actually I quite enjoyed it, though I am not sure whether I like the effect better crinkled or before-crinkled. I am going to try and sell this cot quilt in the shop and wanted to make sure it was washable first, so it had to be crinkled.
If anyone is interested in buying the quilt I have also put it on our website, here is a link. This quilt has now SOLD. The website will only work for UK buyers, if any international readers are interested then email me separately through my profile.
I think I will try a boy's version next, with cut out stars! 
If you are interested in making your own tickertape quilt then head over to Deeroo's blog for all the details and tutorials. And take a look at the ORBC Flickr pool for lots more inspiration.
 
And speaking of Dee, look what I got in the post all the way from Virginia, USA! This lovely package of mini quilts and coasters tied up with a pretty ribbon!
 
Look at all this booty!! Dolores had very kindly taken part in the Queensland Flood Relief Auctions, taking place all over blogland recently. She offered 3 gorgeous minis for auction and I bid for this cute 'Toyland' one...

And then she did a giveaway for an extra mini out of all the people that had bid, and I won that!

So I got this little lovely too!

And if that wasn't enough she also sent me these gorgeous coasters!! Thanks so much Dolores!

The auctions raised just under $100,000! Isn't that amazing? And by the sound of things (I just read about the cyclone that has hit there this week), they are going to need every penny! You can find out more about the auctions here.
A big well done to Dolores for helping out with her auction, and I love my little minis!