Ahead of time, done the last two JQ’s for the first quarter. I am getting better at fine line piecing – not sure it was clever to add it to improvional piecing – it would have been easier to have straighter pieces to stitch together. I do now know the secret. On the second piece, don’t bother with the 1/4th inch seam, just make sure that the line is evenly one 1/8th inch whilst not loosing the edges meeting evenly so the seams will still press out flat. A bit like rubbing your stomach and patting your head!!

So here they are – better than the last two – more colourful and even a little bit of design!!

Originally, this was just long pieces – then I had the courage to make a horizontal cut and insert a red line. Glad I did.

Very fiesty colours this time. I decided that it was best faced, rather than bound. Keeping the corners neat is a bit of a challenge on so small a piece when faced. I may have broken the 25% of other colours on this one – not sure. It was good for me as I had decided I won’t be able to use the main fabric in this JQ – I now know how I can use fabric that looks great but doesn’t immediately tell me what to do with it. This exercise will also help with the landscape quilts I am planning to make.

Next month, we start on yellows. I have a better stash of yellows – just need to decide what technique to use.

I really wasn’t sure I wanted to do the challenge this year – the idea of 4 red, 4 yellow and 4 blue didn’t really appeal – and it is still an issue!  As I learnt a lot about quilting doing the challenge last year, I decided that I better do it this year and use the experience to further my quilting techniques. So the 1st four red quilts will be line pieced as I need to get more accurate at it.

Here are the first two quilts, red in A4 portrait format:

Two more to go before the end of April – no pressure!!