Quilted Drawstring Play Mat - A Gift For a Friend

A friend recently had a teeny tiny, precious baby girl.  I knew I'd make her a quilt - quilters just seem to do that!  My dilemma was that she herself sews and makes quilts, so I wanted to make something unique and unusual that she wouldn't likely make herself.  Ah ha, I thought, I have just the pattern on hand - Tickle and Hide's Drawstring Playmat.
Reversible, no less. Draw up the ties, and it's a bag to hold a toy stash ...
Pull out the edges, and it's a playmat! I have been watching Strip Your Stash, a Craftsy class, and learned a simple technique for creating straight seams on strip sets like this.  It worked like a charm, and my strip sets were straight even before ironing and remained that way. I ♥ the 3D look of the backing fabric! There is a layer of batting between the two layers of fabric.  Somehow the batting scrap that was inside of a fusible batting bag in my closet was not fusible, and so as not to waste it since I had already cut the six edges, I had to pin the layers, which is not normal for me.  I use fusible batting for baby-sized and smaller quilts and regular batting on the long-arm for lap size and larger.  
To quilt the playmat I used my walking foot and the wavy stitch as wide and long as possible, stitching on both sides of each seam.  I survived the pins but once again confirmed that I ♥ fusible batting! I now know why Tickle and Hide sells these quilted bags for $152...!!!  There are a lot of steps to the binding and drawstring sleeves!   Quilt Stats:

• Pattern:  Drawstring quilted playmat by Tickle and Hide on Etsy.
• Fabric:  That luscious fabric is a Technicolor Strip Roll by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller, along with a few Kona Solids, a Flower Sugar by Lecien, an Amy Butler print, and a Happy Tones print.  
• Size:  40-ish inches across
• Batting:  100% cotton
• Backing:  Technicolor Cubix
• Binding:  Kona Pink
• Drawstring and Sleeves:  Technicolor print
• Value:  Uniquely one-of-a-kind and so practical!

Strip Your Stash on Craftsy

Linking to: 

Let's Make Baby Quilts June 2015