Polaroid Quilt

I have a godson in South Africa who I don't get to see very often and so when we went back recently I wanted to make him something that would be nice for his mom now (he was just over 1 year at the time) and also for him as he grows up.

I have very strong memories of being sent to my bedroom to have an afternoon nap and spending (what seemed like hours) staring at the characters on my duvet covers or in the pictures in my books as I got older. For this reason I wanted to do a Polaroid quilt that would allow me to use many of the very cute fabrics with awesome designs but without the very clashing nature that I feel eye-spy quilts often have.

I found most of the cottons online on eBay and it was a relatively inexpensive way to collect the stash that I needed without having metres of fabric I cannot imagine using again.  I went with a much simpler method of applique, so that i didn't have to test my math and seam allowance skills to create the blocks. I am super lazy that way. I used possibly more batting than I should have too, since the unquilted spaces are rather poofy now!
As a side note- I also have no idea how big it is since I simply winged it. me and measuring don't really get on, as you may have picked up by now :)
Some completed shots held up by my dh in our not very sunny garden in the UK:

Fluffy crochet boy monkey

I had a commission to make another fluffy monkey but for a boy. Hmmm. tough. How do I make a small fluffy thing for a boy?
I'll tell you:   a scarf.
and possibly a some funky hair. clearly.

Wanna see the first fluffy monkeys I made? they're here: little fluffy crochet monkies

Swirly Quilty Quilt Quilt

It's not my first quilt technically but it is only my second and the first I intend to keep.  I'm not sure if other people do this but I plan my next craft whilst busy completing another- so it feels like I've been mulling over this quilt for a long time!

 The top is just a disappearing 9 patch, which looks way more complicated than it actually is. I didn't get it perfect and there are some flaws but I'm OK with it and it's staying with me so I'm doubly chilled :).
Most of the colours were an eBay bundle of kona solid fat quarters and one grey shirt of my husbands. The binding is just plain dye sheeting that I bought on sale. The orange I've been hoarding for a project for me.

 I freehand embroidered the quilt sandwich which took a full weekend and I'm thinking next time I'd do it a bit less densely. I used grey thread on the Block side and orange thread in my bobbin for the orange cross side. It kind of highlights how little my machine likes free hand embroidery because the pulled and skipped stitches show up very clearly!

This is the "back" but I think I love it most. I'm deeply in love with orange at the moment and the crosses just spoke to me.

 Each cross was appliqued on before the quilting.

 I'm really happy with the binding because I cut, ironed, ironed and ironed some more to get it to be right. The corners are not beautiful but I intend on hand sewing them into daintier corners (when I feel like it- oh happy day for projects without a deadline!)

 Do you have a favourite quilt pattern that looks complicated but is easy for a beginner like me? I think I'm done with this variation for now but am thinking the quilting bug has taken hold.....