To help us ring in Escapes Month, Ohdeedoh reader Holly (of dinosaur play mat fame) wrote in to tell us about a super-cool item she designed for her little boy:
I've been enjoying the posts regarding traveling with children, particularly the idea of a smaller quilt for traveling. Here's what I recently made for my son before a trip to Italy: a "quillow," which is basically a quilt that folds into a pillow. So it does double duty: big enough to cover up with (which came in handy on the long overnight plane ride), but can be packed into a smaller space. In this case, it did triple duty because I designed the quilt to resemble train tracks.
Keep reading to see the unfolded quillow in all its glory, and to get Holly's tips on how to make your own.
Says Holly:
If you google "quillow" there are a lot of tutorials for making them, which I looked at to figure out how big to make the pillow part. The basic steps are:
- Make a quilt top using any pattern you want.
- Cut backing fabric to the same size. I used fleece but flannel would be nice, too.
- Sew the pillow piece to the backing, following any number of quillow tutorials that are out there.
It's more like a blanket than a quilt because I didn't use batting or binding, I just laid the finished quilt top right side down over a large piece of fleece, sewed around the edges leaving about six inches open, then turned it right side out and sewed the opening closed.
I intentionally kept the shapes pretty basic so he could use his imagination (and I didn't want to hear "That water tower/crane/shed doesn't look exactly like the one on Sodor Island!). You could use black strips for the sashing and make a cityscape, or make the blocks "rooms" of a house.
Have you created an original accessory to make travel easier (and, let's admit it, cuter) for your young ones? Let us know!
Adorable! You should sell these on Etsy! I'd buy one since I can't sew.
view farleece's profile
LOVE. IT.
Can sew...don;t know how to quilt. But will not attempt for 9 hours flying time layovers on way to Newfoundland with my 19 month old. His "choos" will be all over this thing!
view complainypants's profile
This is gorgeous.... amazing job.
view thefayga's profile
Thank you for the idea ! I'd never thought of that.
I'm only pregnant with my first child, but I've already made tons of homemade cute things, like an amigurumi weather mobile. I have a pattern in stock for hand puppets which I think are cute and may be useful during trips. I stored the bottle warmer crochet pattern for travelling. Oh, and I found the perfect fabric for a baby sling; it's not traveling per se, but let's go out in style.
My husband is asking me to leave some things for poeple to get us when out baby will be born...
view Loora's profile
Loora: puppets are a GREAT idea for travel! I think even my four-year-old would still enjoy that. Good luck with your baby and thanks for the kind words! -- Holly
view Hollyrh's profile