Baby Blanket

I completed a baby blanket by crocheting a trim around the edges last night. I made it for my 6 month old son.



Well, when I bought all the materials seven months ago he was 6 months old.

The main part of the blanket is blue and white striped flannel on one side and light blue fleece on the other side. I started out thinking I would hand quilt it using a cross stitch loop and randomly embroider circles. It sat for 3 months completely untouched and then I decided to make a quilt frame from scrap wood in the garage from a web instruction page. Got it all done in half a day and stretched the blanket on it and it sat for another 2 1/2 months. Off of the frame the blanket went. I finally decided to machine quilt it. By now I'm sure the thought has occurred to you that maybe it should just be hand tie quilted and be done with it. I am not a fan of the hand tie method for unknown reasons, so I try stippling the blanket on the machine and didn't like it at all. I seam ripped all the stipple out of the middle of the blanket.

Finally I decided to make an on-point grid on the blanket and sew that on the machine. I used my 6' x 24' omnigrid ruler which has a 45 degree angle already on it. Voila! In about two hours from the first line to the last sewn line I was done. Now all I had to do was find out the best way to crochet an edge onto and through the two layers of flannel and fleece. I made a practice piece out of scrap and used an 1/8" craft hole punch to pierce through the blanket at about 1/4" interval. Amazingly the holes came to the corners perfectly at that interval. I then searched for a trim at my favorite yarn website and picked one from their "Trim of the Week".

I am please with how it came out. I think I might make a few for baby gifts this fall. If I can get my other projects done in time to start them.

I'll be back with some other projects as they get completed.

Have a blessed day!

Happy Birthday! Forever

I just finished the last three classes of my Mastering Your Sewing Machine class at my local Bernina store. It was so much fun! I have many more projects I want to do now that I know how to use my machine. I highly recommend taking a machine class even if its a generic class.

I jumped into a project before completing my classes which if I had waited would have made for an easier project, but that is how I learn. After seeing various children catalogs showcasing cute birthday banners I decided I would make one that was better for all family members young and old. I have a daughter and a son so I didn't want something too girlish or too boyish. Here is a close up view of the middle of the banner. The pendant is made to hang in any kind of arrangement. Just unbutton and move it to two banners or a different word(s) all together. The appliqued present on the middle pendant is from McCall's Quilting site.



My neighbor liked this banner so much she asked me to help her make one. Don't you hate that. Well, not that she asked, but that I had already decided to make her one and had all the materials to make it and surprise her with it. She was excited that I had planned to make one for her and it worked out for me because she helped me sew hers together. It took one-third the amount of time.

I told myself that I had to complete some unfinished projects before starting more sewing ones and tonight I completed my son's flannel/fleece blanket. That detail is for another days entry.

UPDATE: Just thought I'd add the cookie bouquet my daughter wanted for her birthday. Don't worry we still had birthday cake.