Leila And The Love Birds...

Imagine my glee when I returned home to find a package from my swap partner, Artsy Creations by Leila, for the Blissfull ATC Swap group! This month's theme was "Leaves". Remember, my card to her which you can see here.

Along with her artist trading card, Leila also sent me one of her black and white art prints. Isn't she talented?
I love the detail that Leila put into my card. I think she really captured the theme, and her card is so beautiful. I'm constantly amazed by the amount of detail that my swap partners put into their cards.
Leila is another artist who finishes the backs of her cards. Sparkles and swirls...my favorites! Thank you, Leila. I love this newest addition to my collection, and your art print will be a cherished addition to my studio. (Please be sure to click on her link above to visit her blog. She's hosting a giveaway, too!)
I finished my "Love Birds" applique' quilt yesterday, too. I had a quilt guild meeting last night and wanted to take it to "Show and Tell". (We always refer to it as "Bring and Brag" in our house.)

I didn't work on it over the weekend. Too much slothing and drooling after driving through the night on Friday. (We don't bounce back from long driving trips like we used to.) Consequently, we rested over the weekend and I worked on my quilt again on Monday.
This was my first quilt for needle-turn applique', so I decided to try something else new, I incorporated a little shadow quilting on the same block to accent the applique' work. (Don't look too closely...it's far from perfect!)
I finished quilting the rest of the top by meandering each individual block. All the quilting was finished by the time I turned out the lights on Monday evening.
This is the detail strip I pieced into the back. I love this sweet floral fabric on the back. This fabric is also used in the front of the quilt, so it was perfect for the back.
I attached the binding by machine to the front of the quilt, and then finished it with hand-sewing. I haven't added the label yet, but will do that soon. No quilt is really finished until the label is attached, you know!

I'm happy with my "firsts" in this piece. I've got more confidence in needle-turn applique' now, and I also like the effect of the shadow quilting. I'll practice that technique to use in a future quilt. Now I can concentrate on the lap quilts for my giveaway!