Walk in the Park - baby quilt finished

And another ta-da moment :) I actually finished this quilt before the baby was born - there's a first! I'm calling it 'Walk in the Park', as the feature fabric is from the much-loved Park Slope range (Erin McMorris). It measures 39" x 39". To see the inspiration for this quilt design, see this previous post. I chose to do an all-over meander (again), as it's quick, getting easier and very functional for a quilt that's likely to be washed many times.

Zoe was born on my birthday, so this quilt is going to a very special baby indeed! Her mum is one of the loveliest people you'll ever meet and she'll be a great mum. I'm not showing you a close-up of the back - there were a couple of puckers that I didn't notice until I was stitching down the binding. Shhhhh - don't tell the quilt police! The other thing I'm not so thrilled about is the way the pattern in the Park Slope fabric 'walks' off the quilt - I was so careful to cut with the grain - the print is slightly askew. This is a definite downside of strip quilts!
Next under the needle will be the three Pay It Forward gifts I need to make. I have cut all the fabric, now it's a matter of sewing it all together! I received my gift and will blog it as soon as I can retrieve it from Romily!

~~~

And here is a photo of our new friends.Eastern Rosellas are a gorgeous native Australian parrot - my clever father-in-law made us this fabulous bird feeder for Christmas. We finally put it up in about April and it took the birds a few weeks to find it. First we had visitations from some Currajongs, then, a few days later, a pair of Rosellas made some tentative enquiries (sitting on our fence, in the adjacent tree, on the balcony railing) before they decided it was safe enough. They've been back almost every day since. They don't seem bothered by us at all, as long as we're not too close. Today we were even visited by four Magpies! The kids are loving it - it's the closest we'll get to having pets for the foreseeable future...

Cute pram quilt finished

A friend from work had a baby girl in May - another friend had already made a gorgeous play quilt, so I decided to make a little pram quilt! I am super happy with this tiny little quilt :) Measuring 20 x 30", it'll be a perfect fit for keeping a newborn nice and snuggly on the freezing days we're having in Canberra.
I love the innovation (not mine, but a great idea, nonetheless - Milly makes them this way too) of a 'foot muff' for the bubba's feet - click to enlarge the above image - you can see the line of the foot muff/pocket along where the label is stitched). It'll not only keep her a tiny bit warmer, but should stop the quilt from riding up and covering her face.

This tiny quilt didn't really need the full label treatment, so I stitched one of my labels to the muff and voila!

And look at these gorgeous lillies! From my father-in-law to help celebrate my non-birthday this week. Carl, the kids and I have all suffered through gastro on top of a head/chest cold, so it was really a non-event this year!

Baby season is here

It's baby season again! No, not me, but babies seem to be popping up (out?) all over! Two friends have had/are having babies, so I thought I'd whip something up for each of them.

As I'm so pressed for time these days, simple designs are king. I wanted something striking though, so I googled 'strippy quilt' and found oodles of quilty inspiration. The photo that really kicked me off was on Flickr, from Bubbachic, who had a similar dilemma and lovely scraps!

I went through my stash and found some gorgeous soft pink left over Amy Butler (from 'Marina's Midwest Modern' quilt), which is now snipped and sewn into a top for a pram quiltlet. A friend at work has just had her third girl, and another work friend made a play quilt. I thought one for the pram might be a good idea, especially now winter is really here - it's been cold and raining for two days straight!

(Measures 20 x 30")

I also had some left over Park Slope from the 'Funky Chicks' quilt, which is now doing double duty in a cot quilt. A friend of mine, who I never get to see because she lives so far away, is having a baby - a girl - and I'm just so happy for her. My friend has been dreadfully unlucky in love and has finally found a man who's right for her, so this baby is extra special! I love how this quilt is coming along. I'm going to use a stripey binding in chocolates, pinks and purples, which I think will bring it all together. The baby's due in a couple of weeks.

(Measures 40 x 40")

Both quilts will get the all-over stipple treatment, with the pram quilt to have a built-in foot muff, so I'll 'birth' that one to integrate all the layers. Never done it before, so it should be interesting!

I'm hoping to have both quilts finished by Thursday night in time to take them along for show and tell at the Canberra Quilters meeting this week, alongside the Hungry Caterpillar quilt (see previous post).

And here's one of Romily - wearing my clothes (the hat is now a permanent resident in her dress-up box). She thinks she looks like a grown-up in this outfit!
For long-time readers of my blog, can you believe Romily will be five in just a little over two months? Crikey!