Secret Santa Quilt

The advantage of the horrible weather at this time of year is that there is plenty of opportunity for staying in and sewing. 
It seems that when I'm at work I spend far too long talking about what I get up to at home, because Secret Santa nailed it with my present- fabric and chocolate!  Obviously the chocolate was put to good use almost immediately, but the fabric has lasted a bit longer.

I was given a little collection of 5" squares in very pretty florals.  I had been wanting to make a quilt with this pattern, for a long time, and this was a perfect opportunity.  In the tutorial, the pattern is called Sea of squares, but I'm not sure if that only applies when it is done in blues, greens and whites. 

I combined the little squares with a plain cream which was a bargain duvet cover from a charity shop. I used my trusty zip-lock sandwich bags to keep everything organised while I was sewing.

After sewing my patches I tried a few different layouts, but nothing seemed to work. 

There was no other option - off I went to my wonderful local fabric shop - Aberdashery to look for something to co-ordinate.  I am so lucky to have this little shop nearby.  It doesn't have a particularly big selection of fabrics, but the owner is absolutely lovely, and as usual, we managed to find a perfect complementary fabric.
Adding in the extra fabric helped the pattern to work, this photo shows the new fabric with the original blocks laid on top.

After sewing the quilt top together, I really wasn't sure what to do next.  I usually have a use in mind before I start sewing, but not this time.  I pondered between making a picnic blanket, a snuggle blanket for a little girl, or a table topper.  The snuggle blanket won out because I felt the cream would show too much dirt to be a table topper or a picnic blanket. 

I decided instead of wadding and backing I would simply back the top with fleece.  This has the advantages of being warm and snuggly and machine-washable, as well as being one less layer to fight with when pinning and quilting!
I really wanted to free-motion quilt this top, and it sat in its unfinished state for months while I struggled to master the technique.  Unfortunately I still haven't got the hang of it, but I did find some excellent inspiration on Pinterest on how to use the walking foot creatively.  I'd only ever sewn stitch in the ditch, or long wavy lines before.
I used my favourite Crayola washable markers to mark the pattern on the top, and off I went.

Here is the finished blanket. 

I'm glad that I've started to expand my quilting skills, rather than just piecing a top and thinking it was finished.  I will keep practicing FMQ, perhaps on the next project!