tiny happy

I think I mentioned a few posts back that i was planning on making some baby quilts using up some of the (very many) fabric pieces collected over the last few years. So I thought I'd share the first finished quilt, pieced together from mostly linen and cotton fabrics in shades of green, grey, brown and natural.

As you can see, the piecing was pretty random, as I wanted to use up as much of the fabric pieces as possible, and also because I wanted to achieve a kind of loose, free-form loo (as opposed to the rotary-cut geometric designs that I love but feel just aren't quite ''me.'')

I backed the quilt in some super-soft cotton with narrow grey and cream stripes and used a brown cotton lawn to make binding which I hand-sewed down. The finished quilt is a bit bigger than cot-sized, and will hopefully be useful for spreading on the floor with toys and/or in the pram. I was so happy to wrap it up and give it to my friends who are expecting their baby boy soon!

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Are you reading anything good at the moment? I recently finished Novel About My Wife, by Emily Perkins. I found it to be one of those novels that sits with you while you're separated from the actual pages – it was a compelling read and one that has followed me around since I returned it to the bookshelf. I found a copy of another Perkins novel, The Forrests, straight afterwards, so that's what I'm reading at the moment (along with a stack of non-fiction, including the latest Laine magazine which i love).

Also above: a new favourite picture from my phone. We went for a family walk up a nearby hill and I snapped this picture of Arlo. We don't go out walking, or for picnics, enough! I would love to carve out more time for things like that. While the kids are still at home. Can you tell I'm feeling my age (and theirs) a bit, these days?

And in the last picture: a portrait of a sock-in-progress (actually this pair has been on the needles for maybe a year now), sitting on a wonderful vintage skirt I found second-hand recently. It was a very grey and cold day, and I cheered it up with some lunch-break knitting. Rather pleasing all round. And hopefully I can show you the finished socks next week, with any luck.

I hope you're enjoying October, wherever you are in the world, dear reader.

M X