Since I started crafting every hour I'm awake ... I find that I make a lot of gifts for people. I can't explain how much I love making things (though I constantly debate my talent level - but I love it so much I've gotten over that!) and making things for people I love and care about makes it an extra special process for me.
One of the things I have realized since I came to the US is how hard it is to make new friends - especially as you get older (am I going too deep here?) I have a small core of very valued friends who are now scattered across the globe - and as I get used to living in the US for the rest of my years I realize that we all are growing up, moving through towns, cities and countries - leading our own lives in very different ways. I guess the thing that will sustain these friendships will be those experiences we shared and the great moments we spent together.
So I was thrilled to make this quilt for my friend Kristen. She is due to have a baby boy in about 4 weeks. Kristen and I used to work together in a place I will not mention - but the experience was such that I know no one else will be able to fully understand the now humorous (but at the time emotional) scars it left us with!
This project is a 2:1 - a wall hanging and a baby play mat.
The tabs are removable - so Kristen can choose to hang the patchwork quilt for decoration or her new baby can sit on it ... and maybe it will serve both purposes!
My
step mum - Jennie - is a bit of a stitching goddess ... and she taught me many moons ago (I wonder if she will remember) to make a cushion with a padded duck in the middle of it. I used the same technique to make the padded heart and padded bunny on the quilt - after sewing the heart and the bunny onto the quilt - I cut a small hole in the back of the cotton - stuffed the shapes and then stitched up the cut. The shapes are very plushy and maybe the new baby will enjoy squishing them?
This bunny is showing how the baby might look lounging on the grass.
I wanted to make some of the squares crinkle ... I debated about stuffing them with a plastic bags - but I didn't know if this is the right 'technical' material to use - do you know what the crinkly material in baby toys is?
... grow voodoo dolls? ...
... and very scary ears ...
... but eventually after much needle poking grew first needle felted bunny!
Do you like his carrot?
Or his fine fluffy tail?
And what did my sister make ... well she made a very cute whale - here he is swimming in the deep blue sea!
So I have no idea if one leg is longer than the other or if one arm should have been sewn higher or lower - and the nose - I can't find the little nose stitches anywhere!! I could only guess. I crocheted the soles of the feet from my favorite Debbie Bliss yarn (which I decided late last summer was just too expensive to use for bunny making - but it is SO soft and yummy.)
I tried to sew a face - but that was impossible due to the fur - then I tried to give a little 'hair cut' around the face - but the result was so terrifying I'm embarrassed and ashamed to share the face with you. It didn't help that I ran out of the fun fur for the last ear - so far he only has one .....
"Why are you scared little bunny?"
Look again - the monster doesn't look very scary - he looks quite friendly.
"I'm not a monster ... I'm a Brontosaurus. I'm a herbivore so I don't eat bunnies - I only eat plants."
Phew! What a friendly dinosaur! What wonderful fluffy crests the brontosaurus has along his back ... and who knew dinosaurs were so cuddly! I think we in the Rachael Rabbit workshop will enjoy having a dinosaur of our very own that lives in the garden.
The tabs are removable - so Kristen can choose to hang the patchwork quilt for decoration or her new baby can sit on it ... and maybe it will serve both purposes!
My step mum - Jennie - is a bit of a stitching goddess ... and she taught me many moons ago (I wonder if she will remember) to make a cushion with a padded duck in the middle of it. I used the same technique to make the padded heart and padded bunny on the quilt - after sewing the heart and the bunny onto the quilt - I cut a small hole in the back of the cotton - stuffed the shapes and then stitched up the cut. The shapes are very plushy and maybe the new baby will enjoy squishing them?
This bunny is showing how the baby might look lounging on the grass.
I wanted to make some of the squares crinkle ... I debated about stuffing them with a plastic bags - but I didn't know if this is the right 'technical' material to use - do you know what the crinkly material in baby toys is?
... bunnies love garden picnics ...
... the boys talked about growing lettuces in the vegetable patch ...
... and the girls talked about carrot cake recipes ...
... soon all the food was eaten - but who will get the last cupcake?
We played hide and seek too ... 1 bunny tail, 2 bunny tails ...... 40 bunny tails - ready or not here I come!
It was a wonderful picnic in the sun, on the lawn under the big tree. I suspect that there was a little chemistry between these two ... who knows what the future might hold ... perhaps a bunny wedding?
... but she doesn't know which summer dress she should wear. They are all quite pretty.
Me: "Why are you hiding Bunny?"
Bunny (sadly): "I don't think these fit me - they are rather short."
Bunny (horrified): "These are far far too tight."
Bunny: "Oh thank you - these fit just right. I'm very pleased with them - I'm going to wear them to the bunny picnic this weekend."
