Kelly picked out this fabric the day we bought Sara’s nap mat fleece. That’s life with daughters: what one gets, the other MUST have, even if it has no utility in their current schedule of events. Kelly stays at school through the afternoon every once in a while. For those days, she needs a pillow and a blanket, and I made the blanket like a mat (quilted like Sara’s) so that I can glue the pillow onto the blanket and turn it into a nap mat once she starts Kindergarten. Is it ridiculous to think anything the girls regularly use will last that long? OF COURSE IT IS. But one must start with the idea of practicality, yes? Kelly really wanted the these 4 flower buttons, and as they had no place for utility, I added them as decoration. Wait…I should have rolled this thing up and made button holes for securing it…darnit! Don’t you hate it when the idea comes AFTER the last seam is in place?
My free-motion skills are improving, oh-ever-so-slowly, so into Kelly’s blanket I made all sorts of shapes: hands, puzzle pieces, people, suns, birds, pretty curley-Q’s, her name…she has 3 years to find them all. I didn’t mention the shapes to her, and today when I pulled up this picture, she immediately asked, “Where is the the hand?”…so there you go: she has started her journey of discovery. I ran out of fabric for her pillow; it is made from leftover pieces from the scarf project. Good thing too: this pattern needed something to break it up. I don’t care how girlie you are, that’s a lot of hot pink!
7 responses so far ↓
1 Amie R. // Jan 11, 2011 at 9:14 pm
That’s adorable! What little girl wouldn’t love to nap on that?
2 Hands Free Mama // Jan 11, 2011 at 11:27 pm
OK, I was excited before about Avery’s nap mat creation, but now….WOW! That is absolutely beautiful, Lori! I am in awe that you can make designs such as these with a sewing machine. Only a mother with a heart like yours would think to put all these “I Spy” treasures for her little girl on a nap mat. You are my inspiration!
3 Sue // Jan 12, 2011 at 5:45 am
Love the blanket and especially the color. I have hand quilted for years but never have heard of free motion on a machine till I saw your creations. I am going to have to investigate this method. And the idea of doing the hidden items sounds so exciting and intriguing to me. Thanks for the inspiration, the ideas are running through my head.
4 Teresa // Jan 12, 2011 at 10:50 am
Looks perfect for a nap…
5 Debbie L // Jan 12, 2011 at 11:49 am
How beautiful!!! Reilly said the color is absolutely perfect, and wants to put an order in for a pink blanket.
6 Stephanie // Jan 12, 2011 at 2:53 pm
The free motion part of the blanket is the coolest. Kelly will probably find things you forgot about in a few years.
7 The Momma // Jan 12, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Rachel, it’s so funny you said that, because the entire time I was making it, I kept calling it the I-Spy quilt. I-Spy’ing takes forever, this much I’ve learned. I think I finally found Indigo fleece. I’m determined to ROY G. BIV her’s!