Farm Play Mat

I had a wonderful time making this farm play mat for my partner in the latest round of the "Invite Your Partner" craft swap on Craftster.  Jen has four children and another on the way, and she had a picture of a similar play mat posted as a "favorite" on her profile page.  You can see a picture of that play mat by clicking HERE.  Since quilting is my specialty, it was obvious that I had to make this for her!

A bird's-eye view (and a cat's-eye view):

Below, you can see it in-progress.  With a little help from my cat, I randomly pieced together odd-shaped patches of upholstery and drapery fabrics, most of which I got for free, either from a friend (who gave me a sample book) or from the "free remnant" bin at an upholstery shop.  This was the perfect use for them!

I added the pond and stream after the top was together.  I just figured it out as I went along.  I like how the pond turned out, but I am unhappy with the shape of the stream; it should be narrower and more meandering.  Boo.  Next time I make a farm play mat I will remember that!

Of course, a farm has to have animals, and I found a small herd of these wooden cows online.  The brand is "Animalz", and they make a huge variety of creatures...it was hard not to buy them all, but I liked the cows the best.

I machine-quilted the outlines of each of the fields and the water; then I got comfortable in my sewing chair and hand-quilted all the furrows with embroidery thread and great big stitches.

I hand-quilted ripples in the water too.  After binding the quilt, the last thing to do was add some bushes.  They are an assortment of green quilting-weight fabrics, made into yo-yos which I stuffed and hand-sewed in place.

I like this last picture the best...this is how Jen's children will see the quilt.  I can imagine them lying on the floor and inventing little dramas for the cows to act out.  I wish them many hours of happy playtime with their new farm mat!

Cutter quilts

A while ago, my awesome friend Susan sent me (among other things) this sweet little heart that she bought from a seller on etsy called Wordz of Life.  The seller makes these ornaments out of old, worn out quilts, referred to as "cutter quilts", because that's all they are considered to be good for--cutting up to use for something else.  Here's the front:

Here's the back:

The first thing I said to Susan about the heart was:  "I love it!" and then, "I want to make some like this!"  She hadn't heard the term "cutter quilt" before, but she is really good at finding information online, so it wasn't too long before I received another package in the mail:  Susan had found another seller on etsy with cut-up squares of vintage quilts for sale, and she bought one for me!  (I told you Susan was awesome!) 

I love the look of the old quilt block, with the hand-stitching, the small holes, tears, and worn spots, all of which tell of its history.  Someone made this by hand, and it was used, and hopefully loved, until finally, it didn't look nice as a bedcovering any more, and was discarded.  Maybe the etsy seller got it at a thrift shop, or at an estate sale; either way, the quilt is now living its second life--it is being "re-crafted".  I decided to start using it for three of the hearts in the Jar of Hearts swap I participated in at Craftster (that's why it now has heart-shaped holes in it!)

The recipients of these quilt-hearts have told me they love them! I made mine 3-D, sewing two pieces of quilt-heart together, and filling them with fiberfil.  I left the raw edges showing and the cotton batting exposed. A simple button in the middle adds a little something without detracting from the simplicity of the heart.

I will admit that I have mixed feelings about cutting up old quilts; ideally, I would like to see them remain intact and used as a decorative element--over the back of a sofa, on top of a bookcase, or at the foot of a bed.  But some old quilts are too far gone, I suppose, for anything but being repurposed.  I am happy to see the usable parts of those quilts live on in other ways, like these hearts.