Looking forward to more grandbabies...

Hi there. Yup, I'm still alive. You might have thought otherwise, but I've actually been very busy these last few months with "life" and a new part time job. I was offered a job in retail in October for the holiday season, but got news last week that they wanted to keep me on. The job is mostly part time, so I still get to enjoy the hobbies that I have in the past. With the holidays behind us last week my hours reduced considerably and I was able to start and finish a bunch of baby projects. We have two granddaughters due very soon -- one will arrive in February and one in March. I can't wait to meet these little angels. I'm almost finished with the quilt below. Generally speaking, I'm no quilter. It takes patience and perseverance to be a quilter -- two qualities that I have in short supply -- but I wanted to make a quilt for one of the little ones so I chose this "easy" disappearing nine-patch quilt as the pattern. I love these fabrics. They're from Hobby Lobby. There are 10 or more complimentary fabrics from this line. I've got to finish the binding and I'll call it good...

I also made a few receiving blankets. I usually do two sides of flannel for these blankets, but I did one side regular cotton fabric and the other flannel on these. Here's the tutorial for these extra large receiving blankets...

Here's the Maggie the Taggie Owl that I made from the pattern I sell in my Etsy shop. My daughter-in-law used this pattern to make her infant a taggie blanket and put a crinkle paper between the fabrics so it not only had tactile stimulation, but a crinkly audio stimulation as well. She used a couple of the plastic/paper bags that houses the cereal in boxed cereal. Those make the perfect crinkle "paper" for these taggies! Just save one or two, unfold them and sew them between the fabrics!

I love the ribbons they currently have at Hobby Lobby that are complimentary to their fabric lines. Sooo cute!

Later this week I'll show you a few more things I've made. I love sewing for these little ones. It's my way of welcoming them into our family and letting them {and their parents} know they are loved.

Ric-Rac Receiving Blankets...

A few years ago I created a tutorial for my Ric-Rac Receiving Blankets. These are large 42" x 42" soft, flannel blankets that accommodate a growing baby. Most receiving blankets that are offered in stores are 30" x 30", which is barely large enough to wrap a newborn. The store-bought kind are also only one layer of fabric and are made from cheap flannel, so they don't hold up to frequent washings. I still use some of the receiving blankets I made for my babies for our grandbabies today, so that gives you an idea of how well these receiving blankets hold up.

Recently I made a couple of these blankets for our granddaughter due in June. One soft soft gray with pink whales...

And another with pink giraffes and chevron...

I bought all of these fabrics at Hancock Fabrics. They have some adorable flannels. Did you hear that Hancock Fabrics is going out of business and closing all their stores? This makes me sad, and I think this proves the online fabric stores are taking a huge toll on brick and mortar businesses. Plus, I think Hancock Fabrics was always two steps behind at keeping up with trends. In any case, they will be having some good sales as they liquidate their stores. I'll be heading there later today to check out their sales.

These receiving blankets take minutes to make and the double thickness makes the blanket so soft and durable...

Find the tutorial for making these blankets here.

Have a wonderful day!

Ric Rac Receiving Blankets...

We've had a full calendar this summer with visits from family and trips. I'm off to a new destination this week. In a few days we are expecting another little granddaughter to be delivered. She joins a family of two older sisters and a brother. Lucky girl!

I'll be flying out to help with her siblings and parents. She will be our 14th grandchild, and we couldn't be happier. When I asked her mother what they needed for this little one, she asked for some new receiving blankets and burp cloths, so that's what I've been working on lately. I cranked out the receiving blankets first...

A few years ago I shared my Ric Rac Receiving Blanket Tutorial where I outlined how easy it is to make one of these blankets. My girls love them because they are bigger than receiving blankets you can buy in stores, and they are great for swaddling a baby. I love the ric rac that peeks out of the seam.

Sometimes I use two pieces of flannel to make the blankets and sometimes I'll make them with one piece of regular cotton fabric and one piece of flannel. Either way there is at least one side of soft flannel to put next to the baby...

I'm so excited to meet this new little one, and help welcome her into our family!

If you'd like to learn how to make this Ric Rac Receiving Blanket, go here. To see other versions of this blanket go here and here.

...and a bib to boot!

I decided to put one more item in the package for my niece's little one she is expecting next month. This is a bib made from the "Ruffled Bib" pattern that I created and sell in my Etsy store. Go here if you're interested...

This bib goes well with the things that I already made from this fun fabric line called "Pinfeathers" by Carina Gardner.

Clockwise, starting top left: 

Maggie the Taggie Owl Pattern

Free Ric-Rac Receiving Blanket Tutorial

Dwipe Pattern

Have a wonderful day!

Receiving Blanket Tutorial

I've been busy juggling Bears, Boats and Brontosauruses the last couple of days. Sounds like a handful, yes? Not so much when they are caught on these fabrics...

One of my favorite things to make for a new baby is my version of a receiving blanket. I started making these when I was due with my own little ones. I found that the receiving blankets that were available in the stores were too small. There have been advances in nearly every aspects of our lives since I gave birth to my babies. You would have thought someone would have put a little effort into improving a flimsy receiving blanket, but apparently that wasn't at the top of the list. Most receiving blankets available in stores today are about 30"x30", which is really too skimpy to wrap around a newborn. Plus, they are made from cheap, lightweight flannel and are a single thickness. Here's the solution -- a quick tutorial on how to make a soft, double-sided, 41"x41" receiving blanket for a little one in your life.

Receiving Blanket

Materials needed:

1 1/4 yards flannel

1 1/4 yards cotton fabric (or flannel)

5 yards (2 pkgs.) Jumbo Rick Rack

embroidery floss

thread

Instructions:

Making your fabric into a perfect square: 

1.) Trim any manufacturers lettering from the selvage (finished edge) of your flannel fabric.

2.) To cut your fabric into a perfect square without much measuring, trim one unfinished edge straight by using a rotary cutter. Then fold the fabric on the bias (diagonally) so that the just trimmed edge meets a selvaged edge, like this...

3.) There will be a little extra fabric on one side. (This should be the unfinished edge of your fabric that hasn't been trimmed.) Use the edge of the top fabric as a guide to trim off the extra fabric underneath. When you're done trimming that edge you will have made a perfect square!

4.) Use the edge of a plate to draw a line to round the corners of your fabric and trim your fabric on that line.

5.) When finished with Steps 1 - 4 you will have a perfect square with rounded corners...

Applying the Rick Rack:

6.) Sew the Rick Rack onto the top of your flannel fabric by placing the rick rack just inside the edge of the fabric and sewing about 1/8" from the edge.

Finishing the edges:

7.) Now we'll make it into a double-sided (soft flannel on one side -- cotton on the other) blankie... Cut any manufacturer's lettering off the selvages of the cotton fabric.

8.)Place the flannel fabric on top of the 1 1/4 yard of cotton fabric -- right sides together. Pin the edges. Trim edges of your cotton fabric closer to the edges of the flannel fabric.

 

9.)  Sew the flannel and cotton fabrics together by lining up your presser foot along the flannel edge and sewing. Approximately 1/3" seam allowance. (This seam will be "inside" the line of thread where you tacked the rick rack.) Leave a 4 inch gap along this seam to pull the fabrics right-side-out.

10.) Pull fabric right side out. Press edges of fabric and slip stitch the 4" gap shut.

11.) To secure the top fabric to the bottom fabric: Start by evenly measuring out 9 points and putting a pin in each spot, like the illustration below.

12.) Then use a double strand of embroider floss to tie the fabrics together.

13. That's it! You've got a beautiful, well-made receiving blanket for an adorable little munchkin in your life! 

I'd like to say these blankets are more economical than the store bought varieties, but generally speaking that just isn't true. Mine cost a little less than $20 for the materials for one receiving blanket. (You could make them with less expensive fabric, which would help them cost less.) I can tell you, however, that these blankets last forever! We still have several that I made for my own children that are in great condition. They are used when our grandbabies come for a visit. ;o)

Often I buy fabric online, but these fabrics were purchased at a Hancock Fabric Store in our hometown. They have a great supply of heavier-weight printed flannel. Love those funky looking flannel dinos!

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