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?
Lots of detail in this one ... 
A big thank you to my step mom Jennie who told me how to improve my satin stitch ... I hope I am getting better (although I'm still regularly embarrassed by how much I have to learn!)
Measures 35.5" x 35.5". Puff, Puff, Chug, Chug on to the next project ... (erm when can I put my feet up?)
... I did some very wonderful artwork (the MoMA will be begging me for these sketches one day!) ...
... I refined the drawings some what ...
... then I cut out all the little bits and sew them all together - hoping it looks something like I had planned!
The story is that the little Princess is happily dancing through the grass picking up flowers as she goes.
I used gold and silver thread to add the sparkle as well as a little gold material for her crown.
And worried that I hadn't used enough light green in the piece - I used some lovely white and light green fabric for the backing.
How do you work?
The first idea that popped into my head was mummy piggie with some baby piggies. Mummy piggie looks awfully proud of her well dressed babies - can you blame her?
... but where would they live – in a sty of course! And Mummy piggie would be very proud of her clean and straw filled sty – the phrase “Sty Sweet Sty” wouldn't leave my piggie filled head ...
... so here it is – my piggie playmat ...
... (it also has buttons and little hangers on the back so that it can be a wall hanging too)... 
... a double layer of cotton batting makes it extra thick and comfy for baby to play and roll around on. And of course we hope that the first word to be learnt will be 'piggie'!
So I know it isn't the same as the first playmat - but I hope it fills all the requirements and gets the Oink Oink seal of approval.
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?
