New to Me in May

I'm linking up today with Fiona at Celtic Thistle, for New to Me in 2013.

This month, I've been making Artist Trading Cards for the Textile ATC swap organised by Ali at Very Berry Handmade.  I have to admit that until I saw the one that Ali had made, I didn't really see the appeal of ATCs, but the challenge of making something so tiny (at 2.5 x 3.5 inches) is such an interesting one, and possibly I'm slightly addicted. It's the kind of project which keeps you lying in bed at night plotting.

It's a fun way of trying out new techniques on a small scale too.  I posted this one earlier this week, which was made using a mixture of piecing, and reverse applique.

Then I made this one, which uses curved piecing on a really small scale, together with some machine and hand embroidery.

Then last night, inspired by all the Union Jack quilts popping up, I made this Liberty one just to see if it was possible.  It's also by way of a tribute to our swap Leader!

I wondered if I might be able to foundation piece it, but chickened out and went for applique in the end.  I sewed it together using Bondaweb as a foundation though, which meant that when I sewed the backing on face to face and turned it right side out I could iron it to affix it to the backing fabric for a bit of rigidity. I think it would look better pieced so will have to pluck up courage.

Thanks to Fiona for spurring me on to try something new! In the bloggy world of quilts where I lurk it's fun to see what new things other people have been getting up to too.