Brambly Hedge revisited

Following on from my last post, the play mat that I have been making for my niece's first baby is now finished! So, we are ready with our gift to welcome the little one when s/he arrives.

When my niece was a little girl she really loved the Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem, the illustrations are gorgeous and so detailed and tell a story of the hedgerow mice and their adventures throughout the year. I could only lay my hand on the Spring Story book, but I'm sure we still have Summer, Autumn and Winter around as my girls loved the stories too. The Autumn Story would have been more fitting for the time of year here in the UK, and also the fabric that I chose for the play mat.

I was looking for fabric that would remind her of her childhood and would be fun for her new baby. I came across 'Scamper', designed by Rebekah Ginda for Birch Fabrics. The little woodland animals, mushrooms, fruits and burrows just seemed so appropriate. The colours are also quite autumnal, with orange, mushroom, and the various greens.

The design on the fabric is much simpler than the illustrations in the book, but both are so charming. I love the patchwork quilt on the fourposter bed in the book!

I also love the little mice curled up asleep on their triple bunk bed on the fabric!

The mat is just 36" x 36", with simple patchwork squares and a boarder. I used a fabric called 'scribble' from Cloud 9 as the backing, with a binding again from Birch Fabrics called 'abacus'

As we have just had a ray of sunshine between the rain clouds, I grabbed my camera and asked J if he would hold the mat outside so I could take a photo - but i'm afraid the sun had gone in by the time we got organised.

We are now looking forward to meeting the newest member of the family - when s/he arrives.