Safari themed baby quilt! For Madison!

Miss Madison Lee is now 6 weeks old, and just beautiful. She's got such a sweet, good-natured temperament, and we all have fallen in love with her over and over. Mom and Dad are doing great, as are all the pet's!  

Holly asked me to develop and design a custom nursery for Madsion last Winter. The first thing we did was decide on color's, working with her and Nate we decided on pale yellow walls and lavender trim.

 

Holly gave me a direction to go in, deciding on a safari theme for Madi. I loved the challenge of making the animals look girlie! I took artistic license to include some animals from Australia, the Koala and the Kangaroo. I just couldn't resist their cuteness....just as I imagined Madison. 

I sketch the design of the quilt on a sketch pad. Often times using colored pencils to put the colors together. This way I can visually see what I am imagining.

Next, I developed the cornerstones of the quilt. From there, I filled in with various size squares, embroidering each with a cute safari animal, and personalizing for Madison.

I embroidered the animals with my Bernina 830 LE, finding some of the  patterns on Embrodery Library, digitizing some myself or using other software that I have. 

I was all excited to make cute little bumpers with the matching safari animals, then................

Wee Bear and I took a child safety class and baby CPR with Nate and Holly. We were surprised to learn the danger's of those cute little bumpers that we all had put in our children's crib. It horrifies me to know what could have happened. My son reminded me the original purpose of bumpers was to protect the babies head from hitting the hard crib sides. However, I think many use them as nursery fashion........which defies logic! Are you kidding me?

SAFETY FIRST!

Bumpers-(this is copied)

They’re dangerous: Bumpers are designed to keep a baby from hitting her head on crib slats. But they’re a suffocation hazard and may be linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A study in The Journal of Pediatrics found that 27 children from 1 month to 2 years old died from suffocating or strangling related to bumpers between 1985 and 2005. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that parents not use crib bumpers, including so-called breathable models.

Bumper's are illegal in Maryland. Health officials say crib bumper pads offer no meaningful benefit and pose potentially serious risks to infants, including suffocation. Maryland's health department notes that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health all advise against their use.

Blankets and Pillows-

Why they’re dangerous: A baby can become tangled in a blanket and suffocate, or be smothered by a pillow. Most of the 92 deaths in bassinets, cradles, and play yards reported between 2006 and 2008 were from suffocating with pillows or extra bedding. Adult bedding can smother little ones, too, and children have died when parents have rolled onto them in a “family bed,” so experts don’t recommend co-sleeping with children.
What to use instead: Keep your baby comfortable in her bare crib by dressing her in a sleep sack or footed pajamas. If you receive a cute blanket as a gift, hang it on a wall or use it for tummy time.

 With that being said, I have made a beautiful quilt for each of my Grandchildren and several of my nieces and nephew's when they were born. The parents have hung them on the wall in their nursery or draped across their nursery glider. My niece uses it to take her baby out of the home on excursions. One of my nephews was hoping for a second quilt as he grew to tall to cover his legs with it, so cute. Holly decided to drape over full length on the side of the crib, until Madison starts sleeping in her crib. Needles to say, I was thrilled to have such a lovely display of my work for my little "Teapot Princess"!

This little quilt (below)I developed for Madi to come home from the hospital. Just the right size!

  As I said earlier in this post, little Madison has captured everyone's heart, she is my "Teapot Princess" and Holly is calling me Grandma Teapot! Okay, I know your going to ask.........my first nursery rhyme to Madison was "I'm a little Teapot"...........

If you would like to see more of Madison's journey with her family, here is a Part 1 and Part 2 of a movie I made of Madison's first month and the month's leading up to her birth. The movie includes the "Gender Reveal", the "Baby Shower", "Madison's arrival", Madison's homecoming and her "One month" picture. Also, on my YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/joanmessenger you can see the trailer made for Madison and other videos I have made.

http://youtu.be/Rh4p_hJoqaA Madison Lee Weddle- Part One about 10 minutes

http://youtu.be/SUi33GAsb1c Madison Lee Weddle- Part Two- about 10 minutes

The nursery is in the movies, but, I will be featuring the entire nursery in the next week.

Our little Madison Lee- too much cuteness!