Distracted by a wedding

Sorry for the lack of posting here recently, we have all been pretty busy helping out with bits and pieces for my little sisters wedding. The wedding happened on Saturday 4th June and it was wonderful, such a brilliant day and I think you will agree Kate looked stunning

My mother made this dress, didn't she do an amazing job?

The beading alone took her over 42 hours and she thinks there is over 3500 beads on it! It's made from a lovely lightweight silk that draped beautifully. Over the last 5 years she has made all three of her daughters wedding dresses and they have all been very different but all amazing, maybe I will post pictures of mine and my other sisters on here soon. She is definitely very talented.

I have actually managed to get some sewing done recently (just no blogging!), I made a few bits for the wedding, one of which was some Just Married bunting out of hessian and lace

I have also finished the crocodile quilt, it is quilted, piped and bound and i'm so happy with how it has turned out

I love the pieced back and i'm so pleased with how the quilting turned out. I've actually done very little quilting myself, when I lived in Australia I used to send my quilts off for them to be quilted, so in total I think I have now free motion quilted two and straight line quilted three, this one being the third (first time using a walking foot) and has the heaviest quilting as the others were extremely lightly quilted.

I stitched in the ditch around the crocodile squares and then around the outer border of each crocodile, then straight line quilted the white sashing 1/2 inch apart. I really like how it looks and the quilting is still not heavy so the quilt is still soft and floppy and snuggly

Sorry but I don't think you can beat pictures of babies on quilts and I think my baby is super cute and models the quilt wonderfully

And finally a little something i've been working on - a russian doll needle book. I am only halfway through so it's looking pretty odd as she has no hair or face but I have high hopes that she will be lovely when she's finished

I made a birdy needle book for the sew mama sew giveaway and have since realised that I need one myself ( I think the husband will be much happier if he doesn't find as many needles floating around!)

It's made from bamboo felt again with the russian doll appliqued on and then some lazy daisys, french knots and chain stitch to decorate, with a back stitch to outline.

I'm going to line it with this

Isn't it gorgeous?

And then I just need to add some more felt for the pages!

The Naked bed challenge finishes today and unfortunately I have not managed to get my act together to finish my quilt top (to be honest I have barely started), however head over to Naked bed challenge flickr to see what everyone has been up to.

Im linking up with Canoe Ridge Creations for (Sew) Modern Monday, there are some great things people are making, if you get the chance, check them out.