In the last couple of months I've really enjoyed making a couple of baby quilts for a pair of babies who have done a pretty bloody awesome job of choosing their parents.

Traditional quilting, with its requirements of accuracy, patience and attention to detail is not exactly my cup of tea, which is why I've blazed a trail through what I like to call freeform quilting. I dig it. Not to say that these quilts aren't tricky and somewhat time consuming - they are both of these things, which is why I've made a sum total of 5 in my whole life - but they're full of joy and you can pretty much do whatever the heck you feel like doing, with whatever fabric you have available.

When I heard that Ally and Richard Happy Earth were making a little Happy Earth baby, I pretty much had a heart attack, I was so happy. All I could do was cry. These guys are a couple of the most inspiring humans I've ever met, mostly because they live and work according to their ideology, and I think this is a pretty awesome thing for us all to aspire to. Like Che Guevera, for example, who Jean Paul Sartre described as "the most complete human being of our age" and the "era's most perfect man." because "he lived his words". And while I don't subscribe wholeheartedly to most of what Sartre came up with, let's remember that he was good enough for Simone, and let's face it - living your words is a pretty shit hot way to go, methinks.

So, impressively, little baby Happy Earth is gonna have a couple of complete and perfect parents, on account of their inimitable word-living. Yay!

What to make for such a lucky little bubba? A biodiversity-themed, rainbow coloured play quilt, of course! It got the Oscar tick of approval as soon as I laid it out to photograph it.

The second quilt is for the 3rd (!) baby of my friend Rochelle, possibly the most driven, passionate, determined and intelligent woman I know. Rochelle and I shared an office when we were doing our PhDs. We gossiped, read trashy mags, comisserated over the slog that is PhD-writing and dreamed of one day being mummas. And now, here we are, with almost 5 of them between us.

Rochelle was conscious that her 3rd bubba needed something special, all of its own given that it would be born into a super-busy household full of love, siblings and hand-me-downs. She thought that a special quit was the way to go, and I was super-excited to make it for her.

When Rochelle's first baby, Otis was born, I made her a set of safari and animal print sheets, cushions and bunting. Rochelle ABSOLUTELY has her own style, and I love the way she pushes me to make things I wouldn't normally make. Take, for example, her new baby's quilt. She wanted yellows, greys, black and white.

As you know, I'm all about the hysterically bright colours, so this is not up my normal alley. But sometimes it's nice to take a detour, with a friend, and I'm so glad I took this one because I think the quilt is beautiful. Cheers mate!

Have fun with your bubbas, ladies and gents!