Little Apples Stained Quilt top

It's been a little bit of a mad week here in Cork. We were away at a good friend's wedding for a couple of days, and when I got back this afternoon, I really wanted to get some pictures to show you my progress on the Stained QAL.

I did the last few sashing and border seams, and then pressed my top, anxious to get out into the lovely sunshine, but just as I got done, the sun disappeared..I was not impressed. Doubly so because just as I got my pics uploaded here and the post almost written, the sun came out again. But anyways, I have a few pictures to show you.

You will know I struggled with a bit of a dilemma about what colour sashing to use on this one, as there were so many white prints, and I was afraid that a grey or black would be too dark. Miss Hadley gave me a good push in the right direction when she suggested yellow, but even after making some blocks I wasn't convinced. Mostly because yellow is not my favourite colour.

But...but....thank you, oh wise one! You were so right. The yellow works perfectly, picking up the little yellow details in the other fabrics, and now that the quilt top is done, I am really thrilled with how bright and happy it is. I used a buttery, almost golden yellow dotty cotton for the sashing. It is probably most correctly called a poplin and the lighter weight compared to my quilting cottons did cause a few little hiccups for me. There are more than a couple of wonky seams in there, but I think it adds to the character. For me, it definitely hits the bill for a baby girl's quilt that is not at all pink or girlie. The fabric I used in this is Aneela Hoey's Little Apples collection, which I bought a Fat Eighth bundle of. The whimsical prints are just perfect. I debated leaving out the olive green, because I wasn't totally in love with the shade, but Sarah reckoned it would balance the quilt colours to leave it in, and I decided I would take our QAL mama's advice. You see, this is why I love quiltalongs - you get lots of opinions to help you decide on the best course of action, and you get ideas you never would have thought of yourself.

I love the stained glass effect, and am looking forward to basting and quilting this one. I just need to decide on a backing fabric!