morning play

I was going to share the beautiful sunrise with you this morning, but I was busy feeding Miss S, and by the time we had finished all the wonderful colours had faded.


But I do have something to share. A few days ago I managed to snap a few pictures of the patchwork/quilted playmat I made for Miss S while I was pregnant. Her name is underneath her. Photos are clickable for bigger versions.


I made it from fabric in my stash, the dark blue is a spare poly-cotton sheet, and colours are all scraps, some of which I had been saving for years for "something special". In between the two layers is an old woollen blanket I purchased at an op-shop ages ago that I no longer needed as a blanket.

The quilted side was done on my industrial straight-sewer as free-quilting. I love both sides very much, though one took an awful lot longer than the other - weeks as opposed to a few hours!


The original plan was to have all of the picture pieces matching at the joining of the squares, but that very quickly went out the window (I hadn't measured seam allowance either while cutting or sewing) and I actually really like the not-quite-matching look, I think it's more home-made looking than if it was all perfect, and I wanted this to be something Miss S could treasure for years to come as something that was made especially for her.

butterflies in the rain

I woke up to the rain this morning (not Miss S), it was a very gentle way to start the day. Miss S started making noises soon after, so up I got into the peaceful early morning, leaving the darling husband (sensibly) fast asleep.

I had kind of meant this to be a crafty blog, showing some works in progress and then proudly showing off the finished articles, but so far all I've shown you is a pile of fabric which I still haven't started sewing. Ah well, I promise I'll show you things as they happen, but you might just have to be patient, I'll try to keep you entertained in the meantime.

I've been sewing since I was 10, mostly clothes, but for years I've had a hankering to do some quilting, it just seems to take forever to make a quilt, so I've never really tried. However I made a patchwork quilted playmat for Miss S while I was pregnant, and now I've started thinking of some designs for a quilt for her 1st birthday that she can use on her big bed. I learnt the basics of quilting at fashion design school, but have never actually done any proper quilting. I have nearly 8 months, but really have no idea how long it might take me. Part of the idea is to use up some of my fabric stash, including some scrappy bits I've been "saving for something special". So last night I was playing with some design ideas. So here's what I've come up with so far, thinking of maybe a border of small flowers around the edges. A brightly coloured butterfly on a pale (maybe cream) background.


See my inspiration? It's a beautiful brooch my mum-in-law gave me for my birthday.

I'd love to hear any thoughts on the design or tips for the quilting.

Have a good day!