portable car mat

Hello all!

This is my first post on my shiny new computer – it’s so pretty!!  I got a job a couple of weeks ago, after 5 months of being a ‘lady of leisure’, and decided that a new computer was a necessary step. Still getting used to it, and missing some features from my last computer, but it’s definitely a major step up! Anyway, I’m pretty sure you don’t care about my computer!

Today’s project is actually a really recent one.  I know – that never happens! But I’m pretty excited, cuz this one turned out great.

If you were reading two weeks ago, you’ll have seen that it was my gorgeous nephew’s first birthday. Here he is, just so you can see how gorgeous he is:

I wanted to make something really special for his first birthday, and I saw the most amazing idea on ‘Ragamuffin’s’ blog. Check it out here. I loved the idea instantly, but apparently I don’t read very carefully, because she very obviously outlines the amount of work involved in such a creation. I didn’t really get that…

BUT, I did finish it more than 24 hours before his birthday… Let’s say 26 hours, probably! And that was mostly because we had family staying that weekend so I needed to be done.

Anyway, here is my version of the car mat:

As you can see, it has a school, a playground, a pond, some skyscrapers, houses, a tree with a rope swing, and a gas station. I even included a round-a-bout, seeing as we just moved back from the UK. It also has parking spaces for 6 Hot Wheels sized cars. I bought him a bigger car, seeing as he’s too young for hot wheels, and probably doesn’t really understand ‘scale’ yet, anyway. When being transported or stored, the mat, along with the cars, can be snapped together, rolled up and tied, ready to go wherever! Did you notice I even stitched his name on the ties?

I did also notice that a lot of people were asking Jessica from Ragamuffin for a pattern, and she didn’t have one. To make my life easier, I kinda made patterns for all the cutouts. Maybe one day, I’ll combine them into a pdf or something like that. We’ll see…

Anyway, I’m pretty happy with the way this project turned out! Let me know what you think.

-Jamie