Quilt Evolution

If you'd told me on Monday that by the end of the week I would have made my first quilt, I wouldn't have believed you, but that's precisely what's happened.

I hadn't intended to make a quilt.  

All I did was sit down on a cold, wet,windy day, with a mug of coffee and look through my stash of fabrics. 

 It was all very innocent.  

You know how it is, you start to put them in piles, and think about all the lovely things you could make with them, if only your sewing skills were better.

Suddenly, a light bulb switched on in my head, and I decided that today was the day that I would make a quilt for my cousins baby-to-be.

Before I knew it, my cutting mat and rotary cutter were out, and off I went.

Before I knew it, I'd cut out enough for a little quilt.

Sadly, time wasn't my friend, and I had to stop to go and collect Violet from school.  Plus, I needed to pop into town to buy some wadding and backing fabric, which would have to wait until the next day.

My cousin loves Elephants, so I chose this adorable fabric called Funky Elephants by Belleboo.

Here's the finished quilt from the front.

And, the back.

I think I've fallen in love with this Elephant fabric.

Here are some close up photos, so you can see some of the detail (beware, there are quite a few).

Phew!!!! I told you there were quite a few!

This is without a doubt the loveliest thing I've ever made.

As soon as Violet saw it, she wanted it. So I've had to promise that I'll make one for her too.

A lot of the fabrics used in this quilt were off cuts from previous projects, like the Liberty Hello Kitty fabric I used for Violet's blouse, and the Amy Butler Love fabric I used to make a tote bag.  However, quite a few of the little itty bitty scraps of fabric, like the London & San Francisco, the clothing, balloons, paper hats, etc were purchased as a scrap bundle off the Internet.  I'll definitely be purchasing some more of these.  

Details:

Quilted front consists of odds and sods of stashed, and scrap bundle fabrics.
Backing fabric: Funky Elephants in Pink/Green by Belleboo (£13 per metre). 100% cotton.
Binding/Edging fabric: Kitschenette Spot (£16 per metre). 100% cotton.
Wadding: 100% polyester (washable & flame retardant) (£4 per metre).

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

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Baby Knitting - Puerperium Cardigan

I've finished knitting a beautiful little cardigan for my cousin's baby to be.

The pattern is called Puerperium Cardigan, designed by Kelly Brooker.

I wanted a cardigan design that was a little different, and a bit more modern looking.  This pattern fit my brief perfectly.

It's knit from the top down, with no seaming.  You don't even have to pick up any stitches to knit the button band, which made for an extremely easy knit, which came together very quickly.

I think you'll agree that this cardigan has a lovely shape to it.

I decided on different coloured buttons for this project, and I think they work really well.  Though I couldn't quite believe the price of them.  95p each, and I needed 8 of them.  Nearly £8 on buttons!!!!!!!!

The cardigan itself took just over one ball of yarn, which I purchased from John Lewis. It was their own brand of baby double knit, and cost just over £3 a ball (50g).  The yarn is 55% Nylon, 45% Fine Acrylic, which makes it easy to care for, and won't irritate the little ones delicate skin.

All in all, a great pattern, which I'd definitely use again.  Though I may not buy such expensive buttons next time.

Details

Pattern: Puerperium Cardigan by Kelly Brooker (Free Ravelry Download).

Yarn: John Lewis Baby Double Knit

Buttons: purchased from John Lewis (95p each).

I'm contemplating this pattern for my next baby knit, but I'm not sure if my knitting skills will be up to it.  I'm off to order some yarn now - wish me luck.

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