Two cushions and a partridge in a pear tree

Yippee all my quilted Christmas presents are finished.

The first cushion was folded patchwork with a free motion, painted back. That was a combined present for Olivia's birthday and Christmas and was posted on Monday. She's called to say she loves it

Finished

These colours are better

First success with roller painting.

A huge improvement on before

Many thanks to Linda and Laura Kemshall who inspired me to roller paint. I was marginally tempted to do the same with the whole quilt cushion below but courage failed when I had trouble deciding on the right colour and thought how long I had worked on it. Also I got the impression that Anthea didn't really liked the painted one and it will be under her tree on Sunday.
I'm not too pleased with the whole quilt side because the thread was not enough contrast, that's a lesson learned. Nevertheless my first attempt at hand quilting was very enjoyable and portable; I did a bit on holiday in the Azores as well as a few other places.

Accurate colours

Shows the traditional Welsh pattern better?

The concept is a 'normal' front and a Christmas back. The new machine is definitely better with metallic thread than the old and the free motion quilting seemed a bit easier than with Carolina Row so perhaps I'm getting the hang of it. Or was it the glass of red wine as recommended by Pippa? Still managed to stitch my finger - won't be doing that again!

Now to wrap a few presents.......