The pattern is from 'Last Minute Patchwork + Quilts'. The pins were necessary because I discovered as I went up and down the lines to form the pockets (see second photo) the fabric was being pushed up and down alternately and it looked awful! I'm not sure if this would be a problem if all the fabrics were cotton or not, but the linen was certainly prone to moving. Just goes to show the importance of choosing the right fabric for the project! Luckily it wasn't a deal-breaker, just a PITA.
I decided that since I was doing two for today, I might as well cut out the fabrics for four altogether, another one for Hazel and a spare for one of several more birthdays coming up! I haven't gotten to those two yet, I must admit that after I've done the same project a couple of times I usually lose interest in it, although this time there were new issues with the second even after I'd dealt with the first's issues, so I'll be striving to do better on the third! Seems I should have done Hazel's first to iron out the problems and then go on to do better versions for friends but that's not how it worked out and what will they know? Unless they read this post that is...
