12 December 2011

I Hate the Phrase "Crafty"

...to me it conjures up ideas of older women who are grasping for something to fill their time up with and come up with cutesy things to clutter their (and other's) homes with. I prefer to be considered creative and inspired! I love the process of planning, gathering and making an object that has use, value and is attractive. Nothing makes me happier than making something for $10 that would cost someone $50 or more to purchase in a store. If I can give more because I put the time in myself, why wouldn't I?

All that to say - I love it when I can have what I want/need for little or nothing.

I have a lot of baby 'stuff' that was more than generously given to me when Molly was born. Mostly new, some handed down, but all wonderful things. I seriously need very little for this next baby girl. With all this stuff, I couldn't justify buying the little playmat I spotted at target and LOVED:


Now, there is just no way I can justify dropping $40 on something I already have, much less ask for it. I have plenty of fabric, so I decided to recover our playmat that has seen quite a bit of use as a hand-me-down and as Molly's favorite hang out before she learned to crawl.

I have not quilted or recovered anything before, and this became the perfect learning project. Not something done well enough that I'd be willing to give as a gift or sell, but I am pleased as punch how it turned out! So cute, and the photos of Laura playing on it will be so much cuter.



I love that these scraps were all from fabrics I had used to make gifts for friends who were having babies. The teal blue and hot pink squares were from a project for Chelsea Meeuwsen (forever known as "FLOYD" in my head) - a nursing cover and burp cloths. I love that it'll make me think of her when I use it!  (Plus, scraps + hand-me-down + time = new playmat, is the perfect equation!)




Molly was certainly cute, but the black, white and red circus motif left much to be desired.




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3 comments:

  1. ADecember 13, 2011 at 4:40 PM

    So... I kind of like the circus motif. : )

    But I reallyreallyreally like quilted stuff! It looks fantastic Anna! I tried to quilt something once with old t-shirts when I was still in high school and it was a dismal failure. I couldn't get anything at all to line up, no matter how many times I measured and re-measured. And then I just lost patience and interest, as I can sometimes tend to do.

    Maybe I'll have to try it again someday. There is tons of neat fabric around here, and now that I have a friend who knows how to quilt, maybe it'd be worth taking up. I have no sewing machine though, so I'd probably have to look into that. And most of the ones here are treadle... I'm having second thoughts already. I'll just stick with crocheting for now!

    Remind me when Laura is due??

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  2. UnknownDecember 13, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    Quilting is definitely a work in patience for me! I do love sewing - it's harder because it does take my entire focus to get something done, and it's not easy with Molly running around.

    Laura is due April 1st which is incredibly ironic, because last year I had a pregnant friend take a pregnancy test for me and left it on the bathroom counter for Brian to find as an April Fools joke (he may have had a mild heart attack....). Well, who would have thought a year later we'd be having a baby for real??

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  3. UnknownDecember 13, 2011 at 6:09 PM

    and maybe the circus motif will make a comeback when you get around to having babies.... since you are hurdling the first obstacle - marriage!

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