Japanese Quilted Baby Playmat

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I sewed this Japanese quilted baby playmat for my daughter using materials from my stash. For my second baby, I felt compelled to sew a baby mat. Back in 2021, I made this bright yellow ginkgo leaf quilted playmat for Kenji, and I wanted to make another. I used this gorgeous fabric from my stash. This is lovely quilting cotton that I bought from Tokyu Hands when we last visited in 2010. I didn’t have any specific plans for it, but I knew I wanted to use it for a special project. What can be more special that sewing for your own child?

The fabric has two prints, each in two colourways. For the quilt top, I used the print that has motifs of large streams, chrysanthemums, and bamboo leaves. This came in black and red colourways. The second print had a main cloud motif, peppered with chrysanthemums, streams, bamboo leaves, asters, and peonies. One colourway has a cool palette with purple, blue, green, and beige. The second colourway is warmer, with red, beige, and cream.

In the end I am quite happy with it. I wanted the print on the fabric to really take centre stage, so I didn’t do any fancy piecing for the quilt. Instead, I just sewed the two pieces of fabric together to make a rectangle for the quilt top, and then two more pieces for the quilt back. I used leftover wool batting from a previous quilt. I also used some navy quilting cotton from The Workroom for the binding. In all, I was able to make this whole quilt from my stash!

I have an old sewing machine that doesn’t have a differential feed, so I decided not to machine quilt this project. Instead, I hand quilted it. I started with just long, straight runs of stitches, but then I realized I could follow the outline of the clouds. So half the quilt has even stripes, and the other half has a cloud pattern. After finishing the hand quilting, I bound the Japanese Quilted Baby Playmat with leftover navy cotton. Thankfully I was able to complete the whole thing a week before my daughter was born!

This Japanese quilted baby playmat is a great washable option on which babies can lay. This baby spits up a lot, and I’d rather her spit up on this instead of our nice carpet. It’s also a soft spot for her to do tummy time and practice rolling. Once she’s older, we can use it as a rug in her room, or repurpose it as a wallhanging to showcase the beautiful fabric.