my creative space: a baby blanket/playmat

I made my first little baby blanket/playmat this week for Jack- he needed one as we only had one blanket that wasn't pink! I've been wanting to make a little quilt for ages after seeing this gorgeous one made by Joanna at Little Minx from this great tutorial from Cat Taylor.  I made my blanket smaller though so I could use it in the capsule or buggy or as a little playmat.

For the patchwork top I used some Michael Miller zoology fabric that I bought from Bernina before Jack was born and I got the other two fabrics and the printed flannel for the back of the blanket from the new Spotlight store that's opened here in Tauranga....definitely my new favourite store...I may have actually taken Jack there 4 times in the last week - he is getting well known as the baby with all the hair! 

For the blanket inner I used some 'needled cotton' (I'd never heard of that before but a lady at Spotlight recommended it and it's lovely and warm without being bulky which is good for taking out and about).

The best thing about this blanket is that it was surprisingly quick to make (seriously!!)  Cutting out the squares didn't take long at all (there's only 16 squares on my blanket) so I did that one evening once Jack was in bed, and then sewing the patchwork top and then the layers together only took about an hour all up. It was great using my walking foot too as it made it really easy to keep the layers together.

You know what it's like when you make something new and you just want to make heaps more! The girls want one each now too so I thought I'd make them little lap quilts a bit bigger than Jack's.

And check out these pants that my friend Rosie made for Jack in the same animal fabric- aren't they cute! She used a pattern from Anna Marie Horners "Handmade beginnings' book and lined them with flannel so they are super soft and snuggly. Thanks again Rosie :)

For more creative spaces check out the new Our Creative Spaces page that Kirsty from Kootoyoo has put together here.

Megan x

my creative space: a patchwork chair

I've had this chair that I bought off Trade Me sitting in our garage since we moved into our house three years ago.

We used to live in a 1930's bungalow which I decorated in a bit of a shabby chic/Cath Kidston style so this chair looked great in our hallway with some fabric from Kate Fitzpatrick. But it didn't really suit the house we live in now, plus there wasn't really anywhere to put it, so it's been out in the garage gathering dust.

But after seeing this chair on the gorgeous blog Lucy and I (thanks for telling me about this blog Saskia if you are reading this!) I decided to have a go at a very small patchwork furniture project with the chair.
I also saw this yellow chair last year on Abby's blog and it just stuck in my head as a great little project.

First off I sanded it and painted it Resene "Sargent Pepper". (I love this colour- I think it's quite similar to Pantone's Colour of 2011

I'm not very good at measuring before I make stuff (a bit like pinning which I have to force myself to do when I'm sewing too!) so for the seat I just cut out a square from some card for a template, worked out roughly how many I would need to cover the chair seat, then cut out a whole lot of squares from my chosen fabrics, then cut some of the squares in half to make some rectangles. Then I just played around and stitched rows of them together and crossed my fingers it would fit over the seat! I used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the seat -nice and quick!

I've put it in Amelie's room next to her bed- a good place for her to put her books and all the other random stuff she likes to take to bed most nights!

To see what's been happening in other creative spaces this week, visit Kirsty's at Kootoyoo here

Thanks for visiting :)

Megan x

patchwork

I had my first go at some patchwork in the weekend- a patchwork cushion using some of my reds and pinks fabric scraps ...

and an Elmer cushion from the book "Elmer the patchwork elephant" by David McKee. 

(Elmer's a bit wonky whoops!)

I really like doing patchwork- it's pretty cool to make a whole new fabric from a lot of little scraps!
Megan
PS: If you are an Elmer fan I found some great activities here to go with the book...
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/childrens/elmer/home.htm

Patchwork 'gonks'

I have just finished my second patchwork gonk this morning from the lovely book "Stitched Toys" by Kate Haxell. I made the pink one for my baby who took one look at it and threw it on the floor so luckily my toddler has taken a shine to it instead. She cuddled it last night in bed which looked very cute.  I made the red/blue/yellow one for a friend who is having a baby in August.
Don't you just love their little smiley faces :)