My mind is blank so this title will have to do! (Or 'Why is the title the hardest part?')

I don't think there are words to express how grateful and appreciative I am for the warm and supportive welcome I have received.  Lynne is so incredibly supportive of new bloggers and so are her followers so...thank you!  I have promised Lynne that when I hit 1300 followers I shall return the favour but by then I don't think we'll have blogs; we will transport a portion of ourselves into the ether for face-to-face chats while the remaining portion stays behind and stitches!  Thank you for all the lovely comments; were you all being kind and not pointing it out or did you genuinely not notice the typo in the title?!  Note to self...when you proofread the post, remember to include the title I think I may compose a list of bloggy rules for myself, like Gibbs' rules in NCIS!  I wanted to reply to all of you but quite a few of you are 'no-reply' bloggers and I couldn't reply so "Thank you for comments"!

As this is intended to be a blog about quilting, etc., I think it's about time I shared more than the odd hexie...and we all know how odd one of them was!!  (If you're just here for the hexies or the cute dog photos don't panic, they're further down!)

My most recent finish used the pattern from the QAL hosted by Jennifer .  I didn't join in the QAL but discovered it through another blog and started way after everyone else finished!!  I was given the charm pack (I think it's Freebird by Momo but please feel free to correct me!) and hadn't a clue what to make and the QAL came at just the right time.  Without further ado, here's the 'ta da' moment...are you ready?!

Sorry about the odd angles - I've yet to work out the best place to take photos of larger quilts, I may need to invest in a washing line, just for the photo opportunity!

The back, with a toothpaste stripe!

The solids are Moda Bella - I have no idea what the colours are called so I hope no one wants to know!  I machine quilted the ditches to stabilise the squares and then used coton a broder for the hand quilting.  It was the first time I'd used anything other than standard thread or quilting thread for hand quilting and (I think) it went really well.  I marked the squares using a hera marker and used an embroidery needle as it had enough bend in it to allow me to rock.  (Does that sound like a cheesy line from an awful film?!)

I would like to sell this quilt and have approached a couple of local shops but it didn't fit in with their stock theme and we're short of crafty handmade shops up here.  I'm going to have a think about where to go next and if I don't sell it then I'll adopt it.  Ceri has been really helpful (thank you!) as has Marjorie (thank you!) but if anyone else has any suggestions they're very welcome!

I haven't managed much sewing in the past few days but I have managed another three-hexie combo

I haven't joined these either but I did manage to sellotape them to the door in the right order!

 I called into my LQS yesterday for some buttons and somehow came out with two more fat quarters for my hexies.

The new fabrics are centre and right - in a rare piece of luck I bought a FQ with the details so I can tell you it's from the range celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Paducah Quilt Museum and the fabric on the left has just arrived in the post and is from 'Dream a Little Dream' by In the beginning.

If you're not interested in dogs please skip to the bottom!

We've had Alfie staying for the last 24 hours - a little holiday for him!  Archie was feeling quite generous and allowed Alfie to roll him

Doggy action shots are tricky - sorry it's a bit blurry!

Followed by the doggy version of a Mexican stand-off...

Spot Archie's lovely pink tongue!

 Followed by an uneasy truce...

He may look relaxed but Alfie is like a coiled spring!

Followed (finally!) by an afternoon nap...

I promise I didn't pose this photo!

If you've made it all the way down here, well done!  I hope I haven't bored you all silly with the doggy photos!  Must go I've promised myself that I'll finally take up a pair of trousers, yawn!  Well, they have been waiting since *ahem* well before Christmas - oops!