More Baby Projects and Bit of Art

I was continuing my baby project binge, working my way through my stash of flannel. This first pair of burp cloths was made using a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy flannel from my mom's fabric supply. My mom passed away in 1979 and back then your fabric supply was not yet coined a "stash". Since my son and his wife are due with their first child in late March, I wanted my new granddaughter-to-be to have a bit of her great-grandmother to clutch in her tiny little hand. When I mentioned the print to my daughter-in-law she exclaimed that she loved Raggedy Ann and even dressed up as her one Halloween when she was a young girl. I had less than 3/8 of a yard but by using a plain white flannel within for the center triple thickness I was able to eke two burp cloths out of it. Kismet. Guess it was just meant to be.

Here are some other flannel burp cloth combinations from my spree. These are for a Christmas baby. One has the old fashioned nostalgic antique toy feel (but I still had to sneak in those spots) and the other is rockin' with the Dr. Suess modern vibe of wonky stripes (with my signature polka dots).

I have always like owls but whooo knows whooo these will go to? At first I tried to pair the owl print with something in the pink/orange color family or swirls pattern family but nothing seemed quite right. Stripes did the trick. I picked the yellow to go with the owls' breast feathers and the green to go with the leaves.

The jungle print wanted to be paired with some hot primary colors. The speckled one "tingles" my "funky" bone.

While I was churning out quick projects I sewed up some cloth books. They will get set aside for a holiday. The bunny  book is quite small. only about 7.5" x 7.5".

These next two are larger, 10.5 " square and 9.5" square. Actually the Christmas beavers on the left were not for a book but rather came from a panel of eight pictures by Cicely Mary Barker by Fabri Quilt Design titled Season's Greetings. But I thought the images were so darling I sewed them up as a cloth picture book. It does not have words but there is certainly a lot to speak to in the details of each page. I may consider using up other pillow/picture panels I have in that way. The Night Before Christmas contains the entire Clement C. Moore poem with Mary Engelbreit images and the panel was printed with the intention it would be made into a book.

I realize that fabric designers are artists. But normally one thinks of an artist as a sculptor or painter that uses a medium other than textiles. Seeing books for children made up like this makes me think what a wonderful way to introduce little ones to artists and the world of art. Children can hold a mini-museum in their very hands and even take it to bed with them. I learned a lot from writing this post by looking up Mary Engelbreit and Cicely Mary Barker in Wikipedia. And to think, I bought these panels just because I liked the fabric!