The Woodland Quilt

 

The Woodland Quilt 

I started making the animal and tree patches back in the spring, without a really clear idea about what to do with them. They were all on random sized patches of blue and green, some pieced into rough squares on the machine. As none of them would fit together, I laid them all out and filled the gaps with little woven patches, which are quick and fun to do. The whole thing was then laid onto two pieces of old, worn sheeting and quilted together - again without much of a plan, so the quilting lines go all over the place! Because the edges were so uneven, normal quilt binding wouldn't fit, so I made strips of joined fabric and sewed them over the raw edges. The haphazard result turned out to be in perfect keeping with the rest of the quilt!

There are a few bits left to do - if you look closely you can see a squirrel without his bushy tail and some frogs without boggly eyes. I might also add some embellishments of embroidery or buttons - we'll see.  

One of the woven patches between the blocks.

Someone who might like to live in the woodland quilt is this little Bog Baby. He is made from needlefelt to enliven our English work in the summer term. The little chap spent a few weeks in the classroom and outside in the school garden, being endlessly hunted for by the class. He's safely home with me again now, in need of a clean and a few repairs. 

The story of the Bog Baby comes from this book by Jeanne Willis and Gwen Millward. The illustrations are lovely and it's a nice heart-warming story.