My creative space: lap quilts

Well it's been a while since I've been here but life has been pretty crazy lately (well no more than usual with 3 kiddies I guess) but I thought it was about time I wrote a 'my creative space' post as it feels like ages since I wrote one! Am feeling pretty sad at the moment about the terrible oil spill happening here in our beautiful Bay of Plenty  (local writer Jenny Rudd has written about it here)  but I'm going to share my quilts to take my mind off it for now.

I made these little lap quilts a while ago for the girls to snuggle under when watching TV or reading a book. They are without a doubt my most favourite thing I have made so far for the girls. They love their 'quilties' and drag them around the house all day using them for games and snuggles. And as my friend said- much better than dragging their entire duvet around the house! Seeing them cuddling them in bed at night makes my heart sing- funny how it is when you make something that they really love-  it is the best feeling :)

Lining up all their soft toys underneath their quilts -this took them aaaages - always a good thing ;)

They didn't take long to make - probably 2 hours tops for each one. I made a patchwork top then used some needled cotton for the inner and some printed flannel for the back. I followed this tutorial from Cat Taylor (the same one I used for Jack's baby playmat/blanket) which is really easy to follow.

Helping me lay out the pattern for the patchwork top

Will have to make a start on one for Jack next. Hope you're all having a good week and thanks for reading.

For more creative spaces head on over here...

Megan x

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 baby snuggle rug

Today I'm making a start on a snuggly baby blanket/floor rug using this cute pink and red spotty fabric on the front and fur on the back.  I made one a few weeks ago for my cousin Vicki's baby shower and I really loved the result so I am going to make a few more.

Here's some pics of the snuggle rug I made for Vicki. 

I took the fabric up to show my crafty friend Anna before I started and she gave me the idea of putting some ribbon trim detail on the cotton side. She also found the beige colour ribbon in her stash- wasn't it the perfect match thanks Anna!  I used cotton batting between the two layers to make it nice and comfy. You would think it would be quite easy to sew three layers together but it ended up being a bit harder than I thought it would be- I think because the fur had a bit of stretch to it it was a little tricky to keep the layers together evenly when sewing. 

To go with the blanket I made one of my nappy wallets and put some wipes and flannels in and also a recipe for homemade baby wipes.

I've made up a few of these baby shower CD's in the past so I made one for Vicki as well with songs like "Waiting for that day", "Somebody to Love" "Good Morning Baby", "Never the Same" and "Welcome Home".

Right, time for some sewing now!
To see what's going on in other creative spaces today head over to Kirsty's here☞
Megan x

PS: there's a cute fabric giveaway over here...
http://everyspareminute.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-giveaway-time.html