I had the great pleasure of having a very grey week lit up by the American quilt tester, already well broken in and super soft from some travelling to other mamas around Europe. I had seen quite a few pictures of it but still wasn’t sure of what the colours would look like in real life. Sometimes it looked aqua, almost greenish, and other times it was plain blue. When I first opened the package (in the car, of course, who said patience is a virtue?!) I thought okay, greenish aqua it is. I’m a huge lover of all things true blue so I have to admin I was a wee bit disappointed, but when I got home and unpacked the wrap in its length it was blue again! A very calm, soft blue with cooler tones shifting towards aqua but still blending in very nicely. And so it kept on changing, giving me all the reason to love it more.

Designwise American Quilt really is pretty in person. The quilt inspired pattern takes me right back to a wonderful book I read a while back, Tracy Chevalier’s The last runaway, where quilting and quilting traditions are central to the story. I have tried my own hands at quilting and it’s just so hard, so getting a quilt inspired pattern on a woven wrap is the perfect compromise for me…

Anyway, wrapping qualities! AQ is a medium weight wrap with loads of cush and as a size 3 it worked absolutely wonderful. I usually don’t have much love for the shorties but this truly is an amazing ruck wrap. The weight in hand was a bit intimidating at first – I prefer making shorty carries with wraps that don’t give a huge knot and this felt as if it could be bulky. Sure, the knot isn’t in any way tiny but it’s easily adjusted and put into place, and stays where you tie it off. I mainly used AQ in a ruck tied in front and in a Shepherd’s carry and it shines in both. The ruck is my favourite though, thanks to the cush on the shoulders! Albert is just over 2 years old now and still rather lightweight, and me being 30 something weeks pregnant says we need something hassle-free, supportive and comfortable. AQ is all of that!

The blend is 100% Egyptian cotton, which I actually had to double check since I was determined it had to be wool… It has a tight but still bouncy weave which sort of feels like the weave of Titania held double with air blown into it! Love it. It’s dense, but not flat, and has a nice amount of stretch and elasticity. The only minus I could think of is, as with all WW, the width. It’s not old-Didymos-narrow, but still requires a bit of care when making the seat for a child like Albert, with a long torso. This really only is an issue in a shorter size and I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes open for this in a longer version – for that perfect, blankety, blue autumn-feel that I absolutely love.

Lotta H Löthgren