repurposed crib bumper

last night i finished sewing up a decorative "body pillow" type thing for my daughter's bed that i made out of her crib bumper. i loved her nursery bedding so much that i could not bear to part with any piece of it. now that she's in a toddler bed there was really no use for it (i'm not really sure there ever was... with all the books telling you not to use the bumper when they're a newborn because of suffocation risk, and later it becomes a stepping stool for them to climb out of their crib...) i decided to deconstruct it and make use of it in other area's around her room. 

bedding from Potter Barn (discontinued) and crib sheet from Garnet Hill

 for the pillow part of the repurposing i seam ripped all the binding except the part that i would be using for the pillow. i then took the stuffing from the end i would not need and stuffed the pillow with the access. once it was fluffy enough i stitched up the end with a little piece of the leftover binding. easy as pie. oh, how i love free decorations!

to add a little more of the bedding design around her room i cut up pieces large enough to fit in several different sized embroidery circles. once in place i just trimmed around the edges. not totally free, but practically since the embroidery circles cost a little over $1 each. 

all photography by Jackie Wonders. 

 i also tried my hand at a little chevron quilt patch for one of the circles. that little beast took me all day! partly because i didn't really use a tutorial, i just tried to do it by sight. since i didn't have any professional help i had to re-cut my diamond shapes two extra times. not only did i waste fabric, i wasted A LOT of time. take my advice, ask for help if you don't know what you're doing! i will say, i did learn alot. and it still turned out pretty cute. 

 the little green fabric circles are from the back of the bumper. it's also on the back of her quilt. i love it so much, it balances out the bright bubble gum pink and adds a nice accent. 

i'm gonna be super bummed when she grows out of her toddler bed because that means her quilt will be too small. i could always use it as a wall hanging i guess. it just makes me so happy. can you tell how obsessed i am with this bedding?