Big Cot Quilt

It's not long now that our sweet little baby girl will be moving from her crib into a cot-bed.  I feel a bit sad in a way as at the moment her crib is situated in our bedroom where she sleeps with us but a full size cot won't fit so she'll have to go into her own room (which is literally next door to our room). But the time has nearly come and it's a small milestone in her life. She came home from hospital as a new-born and looked so tiny in her crib but she's growing well and is getting too big for it now, also as she develops she'll soon learn to sit up and then pull herself up and she won't be safe in the crib any more. So after Christmas we will make our way to Mothercare (my lovely work colleagues were generous with vouchers for there) and choose a new bed for our baby.

So in preparation I have made a new quilt for her new cot. I purchased the 4 fat-quarter bundle from Elephant in my Handbag called 'Vintage Baby'. I love, love this website. There are loads of lovely things to buy. I also ordered the pink velvet ric-rac (gorgeous) and blue ribbon from there. And then I set out to work.

I utilised what I had the best I could and cut squares, triangles and mini-squares and made a plain border at the top edged with the ric-rac and ribbon.

I bound the edge with the Tilda fabric I bought the other week (also used for the Sweet Sewing Basket) as there wasn't enough of the bundle for binding. I used Hobbs White Heirloom 100% Cotton Wadding (pre-washed) from The Cotton Patch with a plain cream backing. I quilted on the diagonal as I find it one of the easiest methods and I'm never really keen on the quilting stage.

The quilt is really too big for the crib and is tucked in at the sides and bottom.

I hope my baby will love her quilt and keep it to pass on to her children in the future (OMG GRANDCHILDREN!!!!!!!!!)
I have also made a crochet blanket for the forthcoming cot, just need to deal with these:

Have a lovely weekend, be back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sweet Sewing Basket

Good afternoon to all on this miserable rainy Saturday. Lets close the curtains, drop the blinds and shut out the dark skies and cuddle up with a granny square or two, or even a nice bit of sewing, blog reader and of course a cup of tea.
From my book 'Sew Retro' by Judi Ketteler I found a nice simple pattern to make a basket for my WIP yarn.

 

 

I used my Tilda fat-quarters I bought when I went out on a jaunt with my sister recently.

 

And decided to make something useful as well as pretty, something that will help keep things tidy and looks a lot nicer than a plastic carrier bag lying around the place with my yarn in it.

 

 

 And it really is useful! At the moment it contains the yarn, my hook, 'end needle' and little scissors as well as the pile of little circles I'm making at the moment for a cot blanket. Best Boy likes me to sit with him when he goes to bed after his big sis scared him at Halloween and he can't get this out of his mind. I bring my little basket (it's not weaved or made of wicker but is it still a basket? don't know but anyway...) and I can crochet away while he nods off. My son loves me to sit and crochet or knit near him, I think he finds it comforting, bless him.

 

 

 

I used some fusible fleece to give it structure. It's the first time I've used this product and I'm very impressed and already thinking of other good uses for it. When something does the job it speeds up the making process and gives a better finish. If you're interested it's Vilene H 640. I also used Vilene S 13 for the base, and a circle cut from a Weetabix box for extra firmness. Using this bought back a distant memory of a work jolly to Vilene HQ, back in the days when I was a pattern cutter for a M&S supplier. They gave us a talk about all their interlinings and fusings they had 'invented'. Compelling. Lunch was nice though, lol.

 

 

I'm very happy with my little project, Cassie likes it too :-)

 

 



Crochet Connections

I have been enjoying the social side of my hobby this week with a little trip out with my sister to the town where she lives as she wanted to show me a couple of shops she knew I'd like.  My sis has for a long time enjoyed crocheting and has made lots of lovely things for my children and her grandchildren, she also sometimes knits, cable knitting being something she favours. I collected her from work as she had half a days leave and off we went. We headed for the first shop which sells yarn and bits and pieces but oh no! the shop was shut, not opening Mondays, boo-hoo. It looked so so nice (I had a good nose through the window) It's called Manfield Crafts and I couldn't resist going back a few days later where I had a lovely time mooching about, enjoying the colours and textures of all the yarns and chatting with the friendly ladies (in fact I was a bit giddy with excitement at finding this gem of a shop and probably embarrassed myself with all my gabble!) I did have a bit of a spend and treated myself to some Rico Design Essentials Soft Merino that I will stash away for a little while until I decide what to make with it (I'm thinking bag, scarf or add to it over time and make a blanket).

 

I love displays of pretty coloured yarn like this!

My sister also took me over to Higham Ferrers where we had a lovely cup of tea and then a mooch around The Cranberry House where I picked up some Tilda fat quarters.

 

We then popped back to her house so she could show me the granny square blanket she'd just finished:

 

 

It looks really lovely, the muted browns and rusts mixed with cream work so well and look great in her bedroom.

I had a brilliant day with my sister, sharing our mutual interest and hopefully will do the same sometime soon.

In the meantime making wise I'm still plodding away at my rainbow ripple, trying to do one stripe a day, but it is very wide so that does take ages!

 

And the other big project I have on the go is my Mother-in-laws patchwork quilt, which is growing nicely but again is very big so lots of time is needed to complete it.

 

 

Lots on the go but it really does make me happy, happy, happy!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 



Daisy Rag Doll

I made Daisy with 2 of my fat-quarters

Last Saturday I went to a fabric sale at The Lane in Bedford. It was run by Jo Flannery of School of Craft. There were loads of quality fabrics available but I was really good and only bought some felt (for cupcake workshop) 4 fat-quarters and a book called Meet Me at Mike's.
With my fat-quarters I wanted to make a rag doll, more of a childhood reminisce than for my baby daughter!  I made her in a few evenings and my middle daughter thinks she looks very posh!
Her hair and shoes are made of felt and I found some lace in my stash to sew to her hem.
I can feel more rag dolls coming on - poor Daisy is lonely!