Sewing: a blue zoo quilt for the Tiny One

I'm giving you a sneak peek. My husband's on stand-by to take some proper photos but here, with my poor phone photographing skills, is a little view from the Tiny One's bedroom floor of his new quilt.

 

I finished it in record time. My guess is that, if I didn't have to sew in fits and starts and if someone babysat my boys, I could make a single-size quilt in a day. Not sure that'll ever happen though!

 

All three of my boys now lie under quilts made by their mother's hand. It is what my sewing is all about really: my creativity and crafting making things that are useful and good and giving. My heart goes into what I sew, and then a small piece of my heart stays with them each night as they lie alone in their beds. Although I have to say that this poetry is slightly rose-tinted: it's not that rare for me to be in their beds too, trying to get them back to a deep sleep so they don't disturb anyone else!

 

There's a happy middle ground between the ideal/idyll and the reality in both parenting and sewing. I'm snuggling in there for the long term.

Sewing: sea quilt

For a long time now, I've promised I'd show the quilt I made my parents. I made it last year, but only now did we get round to photographing it.

I call it the sea quilt. It's just about a king-size: 200cm by 220cm, or, with a bit of rounding up/down, 80" by 85". It's made in a wonky brick wall design (I'm sure there must be a proper name for it!), and I quilted it in freehand waves in pale blue thread. It's pale blue on the back, too. Let me tell you, it isn't easy manipulating a king-size quilt in the seesaw motion you need to get wave after wave. Though I love it, I'm not sure I'd do that again! 

I used a mixture of fabrics, some from my local textile mill shop, that sells remains, end-of-lines and seconds. Fabric addicts among you will recognise some of Lotta Jansdotter's Bella collection (Scandi Flower and Pebble Lines), some Pure Scandi (Dandelions), Shore Line (Kelp) and Kasuri Blossoms. I bought all these from Fabric Rehab, a misnamed store if ever I heard one - I am quite the opposite of rehabilitated since shopping there!

It is a fairly simple quilt to an expert's eye, but not at all to mine. It lies on my parents bed now, parents who have given me more love, care and help than you'd think could be possible. I like that it now warms and covers them, a little thank you whispering goodnight at the end of every day.