Free Motion Quilting: Around the World Play Mat

This is a preprinted panel that I picked up at JoAnn's. I've admitted previously that I've been a bit prejudiced about preprinted panels. But I am now humbled and yet again shown myself that you shouldn't make up your mind about things until you have tried them. It reminds me of when I was pregnant with our first bunny and I had this idea that she would only have one wholesome wood toy - and now - our playroom is full of small pink plastic princess toys.

This was a quick and easy gift to make and I hope it will get lots of play in the future. I used an invisible thread and used my BSR foot (we are not yet friends) to follow around all the countries. I can not tell you how much I learnt about Geography while doing this - and I took Geography at school - although our Geography had a more social element to it - now I'm making excuses for my lack of intelligence about how long the River Nile is (4132miles apparently.)


After I had attacked the panel with my growing free motion skills (along each longitude & latitude lines and around every country, lake, river, island) I added a pocket in the bottom right hand part of the panel. And this is where I get really excited - a button hole!!! I have a button hole foot that I haven't really used since I got Bernie - and I don't know why I've never used it. THRILLED I learnt something new - though now I will try not to add button holes to everything.

I'm an addict of a website about sensory and learning play for kids - and Asia at Fun At Home with Kids put me onto Safari Ltd Toobs. They are tubes of small plastic miniatures. I got four Toobs:

...In the Water (boats) ...

... In the Air (airplanes) ...

... Around the World (Famous World buildings like the Eiffel Tour, Big Ben etc) ... 

... and World Landmarks. 

You can fit about two packs of the miniatures in the pockets (or your select favorites) at the same time.

The playmat and miniatures roll up in the mat for easy transportation. Why not take the world with you at all times?  To Granny's house or on a picnic, upstairs, downstairs .....

... happy travelling brave little explorers!

Baby Girl Playmat

Another project finished and my first photos outside this year! I had forgotten how bumpy grass can be for photos! A little quilted play mat for a baby girl. I added some tags in the top corner to hook those little baby toys to. This quilt is made from the scraps left over from my scrappy Valentine Quilt (yet to be quilted - that is still on the list of to-do's.) I haven't done any free motion quilting for a while - but I didn't feel too intimidated tackling this piece.I hope it will be enjoyed by the little lady who is due to arrive soon.

Making Things for Friends

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?