A collaborative crafting project with #CraftTheParcel

I was recently contacted and asked if I would like to take part in the #CraftTheParcel blogger challenge. Working with InPost, the idea was for a group of bloggers to come together to create a bespoke patchwork blanket or quilt, each blogger contributing a 12" square to the blanket. Using the InPost service, each blogger worked in turn on their square, collecting the blanket as completed so far, adding their square, and then posting the whole thing on to the next blogger.

I was very eager to take part. I love collaborative projects, crafting, and the chance to try something new. I thought about various ways of making my square, and in the end I went with knitting. I'm not a great knitter but I knew that I could manage to produce a simple patchwork style design using a few complementary colours. I chose blue yarn in three colours, darker for the centre and lighter for the sides.

I began by making the centre square. Although I was aiming for a size of 4" it did turn out a little larger, but all I needed to do was adjust the sizes of my rectangles accordingly.

Having worked out the shapes and sizes that I then needed, I set to work with some furious knitting. I'm pretty slow at knitting, and if I make a mistake I need to unpick it all and start again, so I gave myself plenty of time to get it done. Fortunately I managed to not drop a single stitch, and it all knitted up a lot quicker than I was expecting.

Sewing together the pieces went pretty easily as well, I made sure that I left long ends of yarn when I cast on and off and so it all sewed up neatly.

I finished off the design by sewing a blue felt heart in the centre of the darker square. I'm really pleased with how the square turned out, it's the first time that I've attempted any kind of knitted blanket and I'm really chuffed with it. I found it quite encouraging that I was able to knit the square so successfully!

I'm looking forward to seeing the completed blanket, which will be donated to charity!

You can see a picture of the finished quilt at the link in the tweet below!

Our #crafttheparcel blogger challenge with @InPostUK is over! A gorgeous quilt, and £1000 raised for @RainbowTrustCC pic.twitter.com/daQGzqnOyE

— Jennifer Jain (@JenniferJain) February 10, 2015

I received compensation towards materials, postage costs and my time.