Just for fun : Bean bug toss...

I'm not sure what prompted this present, but it began as an idea of making a bean bag game, where you would throw the bean bags on to a numbered mat.

As I pondered on it, probably at a rediculous time in the morning I wondered if I could adapt it to be a bee on a beehive.

This progressed to a bee on a flower, so I ordered some felt and fabric. But decided to go step further - how about doing bugs on a flower, and so the idea was now formulated.

I always think about recording patterns, measurements and step by step photos after I finish a project so apologies! But essentially the flower was created with fat quarters. I used a dinner plate so make the pattern and sewed them with a sheet of wadding in the middle.

The numbers were attached using a permenant iron on adhesive. I combined fabric to make the centre rather than use another pattern, and edged it with giant ric rac as I felt it needed something to finish it off. I also backed it with a circle of green felt to strengthen it and this helped give it more structure when folded up, the buttons were added to secure it with a piece of elastic as the fastener.

The bugs were cut freehand and the body pieces sewn by machine to ensure the filling was secure and then edged with blanket stitch as a decorative finish.

I tested it out on my 5 year old who loved throwing the bugs and adding up the numbers, so it is definatly a game that can evolve as the child develops.