My insanely crafty friend over at Lit and Laundry is hosting a new feature: Finished for Friday! Time for lots of show-and-tell for what we’ve made this week. Wohoo! Head on over and check out the other links, and submit your own!
The blocks have been sewn into rows and the seams pressed open.
Early last week, I talked about turning the old receiving blankets into quilts. I thank everyone for their suggestions, and started by making two small lovey-sized blankets with no batting. The two layers of flannel, alone, were plenty cozy. They’re each made from 6″ squares, five across and five down (well, 10 and 10 if you figure it’s two layers).
I can see why people get spring-loaded scissors for cutting all of the seams. It really hurts your hand with a regular pair of scissors!
I have to say, making my first rag quilts was pretty fun! It seems to take every rule of quilting and turn it upside down. Make your seams invisible? Nah, make them the big feature. Precise quarter-inch seam allowance? Instead, let’s do something like five-eighths! Wrong sides together, sew and make it all visible! It makes you feel like such a rebel from the usual precision and constraints of “normal” quilting. OK, maybe “rebel” is a bit strong. It’s just fabric, after all. But still, it was fun.
Both quilts, assembled and snipped and ready for the washing machine.
Close-up after one run through the washer and dryer. They're starting to fray nicely!
Beware, when washing these babies. The first time, they will completely clog the washer’s lint trap. Be ready to replace it, or your next regular load of laundry will have water spraying all over the basement. Trust me.
Have they become an instant hit with the kids? Nah. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll be good for playing with dolls at some point. Who knows. They’re cute, and I’m happy. Oh, and I have so much cut fabric leftover that I clearly will have to make a bigger quilt for myself… Maybe a more traditional one, but a cozy flannel nonetheless.
Taking up much-needed storage space is a stack of the kids’ old recieving blankets. Well-loved, frequently-washed flannel with somehow nary a prune-juice-spit-up stain on them (thank you, Oxi-Clean). A little too ratty to pass on to someone else, but too full of newborn memories (to think, we used to be able to swaddle them in those blankets!) to throw in the trash. Out comes the ruler and the rotary cutter, and the dozen or so blankets are rapidly becoming stacks of six-inch squares, destined to become 
My only debate right now is what kind of blanket I’m aiming to make. Do I want the warm, snuggly kind that you curl up under on a chilly night? Or do I want a smaller, lighter one that can be dragged around and slept with as a comfort item? It’s a difference not only in size but also in construction. A heavier, warmer blanket would have batting in between the layers for warmth and weight. A little lovey blanket could just be two layers of flannel with nothing in between.
Daniel’s Frog Quilt (very nearly done!)
Rebecca’s Rainbow/Noah’s Ark Quilt (saving for last)
I finally commandeered my little-used dining room and have set up my sewing machine and ironing board, and am determined to finish these damn quilts. My “shoot for the moon, land in the stars” goal is to have all three of them (both kids, plus my brother and SIL’s wedding quilt that is way overdue) actually sandwiched and quilted before I leave, in the hopes that I can just bring them and finish the binding while I’m in Chicago. I know, laugh all you want, but it’s a noble (if far-fetched) goal.
. Her twins aren’t much older than mine, and somehow she finds time for all of these great projects. She even gave me a little personal 
My hands remembered. It was a pretty 
