This Little Place Here: Going Bold

I am pretty traditional in my riding. In terms of dressage, I view myself as a classicist, staying pretty true to the centuries old training methods, not running this way and that with the riding fads that come and go. Along with that goes black and white tack, no bling.

That is why it totally shocked me a few weeks back when I was perusing the discounted fabric bin (usually bolt ends or miscut pieces or flawed fabrics) at Walmart, and I found myself drawn to a couple of larger cuts and saying "This would look really good on the Quarter Horse". And by that statement, I meant that I could make some new baby pads (thin quilted pads that I use under the shaped fleece saddle pad) that actually had color to them rather than being white like the 10 other baby pads I own (I made them all, a few here and there through the years as I needed more). Not only weren't the two cuts of fabric that I threw into my cart white, one of them was actually a print!

Oh my! How bold is that!

To be fair, I have to confess that I didn't go all crazy with my fabric choices. Both of the new pads I sewed up last week are pretty tame compared to some of those for sale in the tack catalogs (for those younger/trendier chicks, you know). One is a light blue and blue zigzag print, the other is a calm aqua solid. But they're not white! so are quite a change for me.

Using one of my existing baby pads as a pattern, I cut two pieces of each fabric and two pieces of 1/4" batting in order to make two new pads. I did the typical quilt sandwich: the fabric pieces right sides together plus the batting on top and stitched each pad together with the exception of a 4" section I left unsewn for turning the quilt sandwich right sides out. Once the pads were turned out, I stitched those 4" openings shut as close to the edge as possible, then proceeded to quilt each pad by sewing diagonal lines about two inches apart. Since I eyeballed it rather than drawing on the quilting lines, it isn't perfect, but it works. This is just for me, anyway; not as if I were going to make them for sale. Lastly I did a blanket stitch on the edges.

Quick, easy, and a bit cheaper than buying baby pads. Plus, these are one of a kind.