January 25, 2010

A Cozy, Cuddly Blanket

If two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? - Ecclesiastes 4:11

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We're all about keeping warm these days, which is why this week we are focusing on blankets... warm, wonderful blankets! I've been wanting to make a no-sew fleece blanket for ages and this is the season to do it. Most of the fabric stores are having sales on their fleece, so you should be able to pick up the material for a reasonable price. I got this high-quality polar fleece for around $6/yard.

What you'll need:
  • 2 coordinating pieces of fleece
    • choose 2 colors or 1 color & 1 pattern
    • you'll need 1 1/2 yards for a child and up to 2 yards for an adult
  • good scissors or rotary cutter & mat
  • ruler/tape-measurer
1. Layer the fleece, wrong sides together.

2. Trim the salvage. It's best if you can trim in a straight line, but it's not vital. One of my sides was horribly uneven, but you can't tell now, so don't get too OCD over it.

3. Cut 4 inch squares from each of the corners. Please ignore the strips in the picture... I did much of this project during a ladies craft night at my church and forgot to bring a camera.

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4. Go around your blanket and cut strips 4 inches deep every inch or so. A craft mat really helps with this part.

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5. Now all you have to do is tie the strips together, completing your blanket! I (and a friend I conscripted at the craft night) tied three of the sides, saving the fourth for E. Even princesses need to learn to tie a knot eventually...

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100 or so knots later, she was a pro and the girls had a completed fleece blanket they can sleep  cuddle be their crazy selves in!

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The Quiltmaker's Gift
by Jeff Brumbeau

The Quiltmaker's Gift

This is a wonderful story you will love introducing to your child. In her house in the mountains an old quiltmaker sews the most beautiful quilts and gives them only to the poor and needy. A sad and greedy king covets her quilts more than anything, but she refuses to give him one until he himself has given away every one of his treasures. Will he learn to be generous and in doing so find true joy?

This sweet fable teaches children generosity in well-crafted story full of rich language and wonderful imagery. The illustrations are gorgeous, colorful tapestries bursting with detail and whimsy. The story is long for little ones, but early and pre-readers will enjoy flipping through the pages to watch the story unfold in the descriptive frames on each page. So grab the nearest cozy blanket and cuddle up to read this lengthy, but fantastic fable!

Project Linus

My MIL - an amazing seamstress and quilter - shared with me this organization that you might be interested in. Project Linus provides "love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer 'blanketeers.'” If you enjoy quilting, you might want to check them out. It would be a great project to reinforce the message of The Quiltmakers Gift.

I'm linking up to:
A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day
Homeschool Creations' Preschool Corner

14 comments:

  1. Aw, my nieces look so cute I want to jump in there with them and cuddle. Of course, if I jumped in L would just give me the evil eye. E would cuddle though :). Love you!

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  2. I appreciate this tutorial- now, where's the fleece I bought at Christmas and didn't use like I supposed to...

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  3. The blanket looks so cute around the lovely ladies! And I absolutely adore that book. Owen could care less when we got it from the library, so I sat down and read it without him. Illustrations are stunning.

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  4. You finished it! Those pics are great!

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  5. Thank you for the book suggestion! I made a special Christmas quilt for my MIL this year and my older boys were fascinated with the process--and I quote: "uh, mommy, why are you cutting that up just to sew it back together?" I can't wait to check out this book!

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  6. I've always wanted to make one of these ... and now that I've seen your two adorable girls wrapped up in one, I want to make one for my two sweeties to share :)

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  7. I love it! My son is a blankie boy he loves his but it is to big for trips in the car etc ... I think i might make him one like this and see what he thinks :)

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  8. We have two of the no sew fleece blankets. We actually got them when I was getting my Chemo. Selena waited so long for me to finish my treatments so she could steal my pink one. We cuddle in them every night!

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  9. what a great activity to do with the kids - turned out nice! :) Very sweet!

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  10. It's a very cool method what you have done with the blanket. Its different and very beautiful.

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  11. I was wondering if i were to do one side fleece and the other a different material, would it tie the same?

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  12. Thank you :) ... They are simple instructions and that is exactly what I was looking for. Truly appreciate this post you made.

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