Baby Play Gym : :

I wanted to make Little Miss S something to play with as she is now just about 4 months old (where did that time go?). She is just hitting that really fun stage where everything looks tasty and it all goes straight into her mouth!

I decided to make a baby gym for her as I've never owned one, but I did lend one from a friend and know how much babies like them.  I used the pattern from the book "Sew Modern Baby" by Angela Yosten, which I picked it up on a whim at spotlight ages ago.

However...if I had a crystal ball and could have known how much trouble it was going to give me, I definitely wouldn't of bothered!! 

I'll get to that bit later....first onto the quilt part, the mat!

I appliquéd!!!......AND I didn't hate it!! 
I honestly think this is the first quilt I have ever appliquéd something that looks half decent. 

(Let me just cut in here to say...i did it on my Bernina...not by hand. That's a hurdle for anther day!)

There are two types of blanket stitches on my Bernina 440QE (number 45 and 46 for those who want to know).

They are both the same, but 46 is double thickness. I decided to the thicker stitch, and while it definitely ate through my thread stash quicker than I would've liked, it looks so much better than the thinner one!! 

I mean, just look at that stitching!!

And again...

 
And again....

 
Yup, I think I can definitely say I'm more than a little proud of myself!!

Now onto the stuff that seriously gave me nightmares! The arches!! *shudder*
I sewed up the 'tubes' of fabric from my Sarah Jane stash (which is seeming never ending at the moment!! No matter how much I use, there is still just sooo much!).

 

That part was simple enough, but threading the black pipe insulation through the tubes took me hours and hours and hours!! 
Then after I finally had them threaded and sewn together I connected it to the quilt with baby links (like the patterns states) the whole thing just flopped over. (que me chucking a bit of a tantrum and refusing to look at it again for about a week!)

If anyone is planning on making this project take note...this book is American..so the materials listed aren't exactly the same as the materials I found in the hardware store here in Australia!!

After leaving it all in a corner for a few days, I decided to give it one more go and got my husband to go to my parents farm and get me a few lengths on fencing wire. 
I then cut them to length and wrapped the sharp ends in duct tape so they wouldn't poke through my fabric. 

After unpicking, threading then re-sewing, I can finally say that it works!! *happy dance*

And the best bit? Little miss S Loves it...which I guess makes it worth it in the end!! 

She is seriously happy under this thing. I love how I can change up her toys as well so she gets a bit of spice in her baby-life.

Jessica

A Very Belated Baby Owl Quilt : :

Want to know how slack I am sometimes?? Like REALLY REALLY slack?

 Ok, confession time! My good friend had a baby girl, and while she was pregnant I started making her a quilt. Ok, so far so good your saying.....here's the doozy, I only just finished a few weeks ago, and that unborn baby is now almost 18months old ....*shameful*!

My friend Kate is really into owls (well she was when I started this quilt), so I found a nice owl quilt pattern and decided to make it for her. The quilt came together quickly enough...but when I came to the applique I just lost all motivation!!

I LOATH appliqué!!  Its not that I don't like the look of it, I actually find it really pretty most times, its just I am absolutely no good at it and hence avoid it at all costs.

But for some unknown reason I thought it would be a good idea to give it another shot. Like in the two or so years since my last pathetic attempt I have some how become good at it. ..um...NO! If anything I have become worse *surprise surprise*.

So I had to forced myself to finish it (with some selfish-sewing bribery). I must confess I didn't enjoy a single moment of quilting this quilt. I just wanted to give it to her and never see it again.

Good news is she loved it and the baby (ermm...toddler) is still in a cot so she will get some use out of it now the weather is getting cold.

Before she took it home I asked if I could just take a quick picture of it.

I used the applique stitch on my machine for everything except the tail of the owl. I don't know why, but I did the tail by hand, and there is a very good reason why I didn't take a close up of that!

Well you cant love everything you make...can you?

Just for reference the fabric I used was a mix of a 'posy' charm pack and 'children at play'. The pattern was from "Acorn Quilt & Gift Company", called Remember whooo loves you.

I'm sooo glad I've finished that one....next time I feel like appliqueing (if there ever is a next time), I'm going to re-read this just to remind myself how much I don't like it!!

Jessica