Liberty changing mat and blanket

You know I love making my foldable changing mats and when LP&Q asked me to make a Liberties inspired series of makes I couldn't wait to suggest a changing mat with matching blanket.

So in issue 7 that came out last week you can find out how to make both of them !

I wanted to make a duo that could be used for both girls and boys and you know how much I dislike gender polarisation by way of colour. Yes the quilt has a lot of blue but also a lot of girly flowers which I think is a creat combo.

I used a very soft denim as background colour and made a sweet heart from Liberty scraps.

And this is of course how it looks folded and ready to slip in the handbag, buggy, car ..... always ready for that emergency nappy change. 

 The baby blanket is simply made fromLiberty squares backed with a gorgeous navy super soft flannel.

 And here again folded and ready for a snuggle.

Ladybug

I hope you are not getting bored of seeing these but there was another baby born recently (as they do !) and of course my colleague deserved to have a little something made for his newborn son.

I again used another of the panels I bought at Fabric Inspiration and added solids and other prints from my stash.

I scrambled together the last pieces of my Kokka cotton/linen blends with those adorable little cars on it, added binding from the Innocent Crush collection and a little while later another changing mat was done.

I so love making these and even more love seeing them in use.

On-the-go-quilts for the fair

I found myself unexpectedly with more time on my hands as my sister sadly had to cancel her visit short noticed. So instead of going back to work and feeling very sorry for myself (actually I do feel sorry for myself as I was very much looking forward to spending time with her and my nephew) I am using the surplus time I have creatively and also a little for myself to just relax.

This is a picture heavy post, so consider yourselves warned. I am of course still working on the preparations for the craft fair (check out previous posts here and here)

What is strange about this whole sewing madness is that I actually enjoy it. I was always under the impression that I would resent making lots of small things that "I won't sell anyway". I am saying this because the sales at craft fairs are not always great and in particular not as a first timer. But for some reason I really love sewing all the small things and am strangely hopeful that I will be able to sell them either at the fair or through my on-line shop. In any case I am enjoying myself and that is what its all about. 

You know how much I love making my on-the-go quilts and these five additions are no exception. Each of the dozen or so I have made over the past year is a unique piece and every new one is my favorite.

I used for the backs this time a lightweight home-decor fabric. The quilts are mainly used as changing mats and therefor are frequently laid out on the ground and I think a heavier fabric is ideal for this. Also this fabric is less expensive then the Kokka Trefle I have been using in the past.

A lot of Dr. Seuss but also some log cabin and pineapple designs from other fabric in between.

Yes I even made a pink one and actually do quite like it.

All folded up and ready to go to Market !

Back to the sewing machine......

Quilt-on-the-go for Ottilie

My lovely neighbors had their second child a few weeks ago. I think I was as exited about its arrival as they and hoped that it would be a girl. I already made a quilt for their youngest son when he was born eighteen months ago and of course rushed to make something for little Ottilie too.

Luckily neither my neighbors nor I are keen on pink for girls and I also know they love Dr. Seuss.
So I rummaged in my stash to find my leftover Dr. Seuss, fabric and a few hours later my 5th quilt-on-the-go was finished. I don't know but I think this is so far my favorite of them all.

 The back is again Kokka Trefle and this time with cute little Lions, castles, robots and all sorts from the Whizard of Oz.

Three more days of Olympic fun left. I went to the Gymnastics, Boxing and Volleyball this week which was all absolutely fantastic but I also got a rather horse voice from the very strongly air conditioned venues. I guess one can't have it all.

Have a lovely weekend all !

All-occasion baby-quilt No 4

I had another chance to make one of my 'All-occasion-baby-quilts' the other day and this time for a colleague of mine who had her first baby.

I used the panel fabric I bought a while a go at Fabric Inspirations and that I featured in this stash Note. I added a bright red solid around it with a few dashes of Laurie Wiesbrun fabric.

The back features a Kokka linen/mix with some denim added. The denim is from the lovely Jude who kindly sent me a yard a while ago.

I absolutely love the denim/linen combination.

And here all folded up and ready to go.

All-occasion baby-quilt No 3 and other news

I finally bought my 'Fat Quarterly retreat' ticket and am literally counting the days until the 2nd of June. It will no doubt be fabulous as it is organized by the fabulous Fat Quarterly crew. This will also be the first time all of the Brit Bee members will meet which I am looking forward to after having only conversed with most of them via our flickr group for almost a year now. . Are any of you coming ?

Whilst I am happily quilting away on 'Tuscan Hills' at a two-bobbin-per-evening speed  (which should give you an idea about the amount of quilting this one is treated to) I thought I share with you another one of my all-occasion-baby quilts that my sister commissioned me to make as she wanted a present for friends of hers
who just had their first baby.

Of course I obliged as it is so much fun making these. Technically they are mini quilts and quite possibly are the only mini-quilts I enjoy making simply because they have a purpose and will be used. Mostly these are actually used as changing mats from what I hear of the recipients I gifted them to in the past.

And that is exactly what I hoped would be their purpose. My friend Leigh carries her all-occasion baby-quilt with here everywhere and that makes me rather happy. 

I really should be making some in advance and perhaps also for the shop....well one day....

 

All-occasion-baby-quilt II

A friend of mine held a baby shower the other day for which I made another 'All-occasion-baby-quilt', this time in dark purples and pink.

As a back I again used a Kokka print that I matched in pattern with the Russian dolls of the front.

All folded up ready to go walkabout.

The quilt is roughly 24 by 20 inches in size. The binding is from Kaffe Fassett's dot range.

Gifts galore

Back in May when I rounded off my US trip in New York I bought this fantastic wool at Purl Soho. I decided to knit a baby blanket for the arrival of my best friends first baby this month. The wool is from Madeline Tosh (first post here) and is an incredible soft Superwash 100 % Merino that comes in the most delicious colours. My friend Leigh, like me, isn't afraid of colour so I thought I choose a variety of turquoise/green and blend them one into the other while knitting. I wanted to make something gender neutral as I don't really believe in the the girl/boy colour division but also because Leigh and Drew didn't want to know the baby's gender until birth. Leigh is incidentally also the person who found the name for my blog but since hasn't really bothered visiting the blog much (grrrhhhhh.....), she is a busy bird and will be even busier now I guess.

The baby blanket was indeed finished some two weeks ago but the baby only arrived this week. So here is my "Oceanside' baby blanket for Anya Louise who I will meet next weekend for the first time. I can hardly wait.

But I kinda thought I can't rock up there without anything quilted so I made a little something that I am actually really proud of and most probably will produce a lot more of in the future for the on-line shop as I think they are so, so practical.
I made a mini quilt that combines as a handy changing mat or baby quilt for all occasion. Perhaps I should call it the 'all-occasion-baby-quilt'.

I used fabric from my stash and a block I made ages ago but didn't really like. I took the block and boldly cut the pieces off I disliked (God that was liberating !) and added new strips to a kind of wonky log cabin until I was happy. Then I embedded the whole thing into some bride summery orange.

 

I have a rather large amount of Kokka cotton/linen meter pieces in my stash I bought last year at Eternal Maker at the Birmingham Quiltshow but so far haven't really done much with them. I always felt they were to precious but when I was looking through my stash for something appropiate for a quilt back I thought these were ideal because they are little sturdier due to their linen/cotton combination. And that is what I want for a small quilt that should be thrown about and used for anything and everything.

 

The binding is a yellow Polka dot also from my stash. The quilt is approximately 22 x 20 inches and I was originally inspired by these quilts here from Fresh Lemons quilt.

 

I quilted it in random straight lines with a wonderful Perle Orange thread. I did this on the machine and was surprise that my Janome took it without to much moaning as it is a rather thicker thread compared to my usual Gueterman Sulky 30. 

As you can see from the Image of the quilt back I added a closing strip with Velcro to the quilt so it can be folded up small to become a portable changing mat or indeed a quilt-for-all-occasions. With this composite below I try to demonstrate how to fold it up. 

Pretty neat don't you think ?