27 May 2008

Another blanket done

This is a blanket I made for a friend who is having her baby in June. I made it the end of April, but I let it sit wrapped and ready to mail, on my desk for 6 weeks so I couldn't post pictures of it. I finally mailed it last week, so now I can post the pictures. =)
I went to a class at the mall to learn how to do this. It is similar to a rag quilt, but it is using a chenille technique. Basically, you take four 1 yard pieces of flannel, make a sandwich out of them, and then sew on the diagonal every 1/2 in. of the fabric. We used a really cool product called 505 spray to keep the fabric from shifting. It is like a spray glue, and it was applied to each layer of the "sandwich". Anyway, after you sew every 1/2 inch, there is this cool cutting tool (called a chenille cutter) and you cut the first three layers of fabric between the sewing lines, making very sure you don't cut through the last layer. It ends up showing the middle colors of the blanket in a fuzzy kind of pattern. On this one, I made the diagonals go in two directions and only sliced every three lines, but some people made theirs look like a checkerboard...one square blank, and the next with the fuzzy lines. After all the sewing and cutting, you have to wash it and dry it, and that is what makes the cut lines get their fuzzy look. This was a fairly quick project. I got the whole thing sewed and almost all the way cut by the time the class was over, and when I got home, I finished the slicing and washed and dried it. I finished it by sewing around the perimeter, and snipping it, but you could also bind the edges.
Finished blanket

Close up

Front and Back

4 comments:

Jen said...

As the recipient of this wonderful blanket, I have to tell everyone I think it is amazingly cool. It is in no way your typical baby blanket and my little guy is gonna be the coolest kid in town having this blanket to call his own. I am not a huge fan of "cute" baby blankets, you know the typical parade of animals in nice pastel colors, so opening the box to find this blanket was a huge joy. I seriously wondered how you made it, Melissa. I've never seen anything like it before! I'm glad to hear it wasn't too much work, yet no matter how much effort you expended, I'm totally grateful. Make sure you check my blog after the little one is born to see him thoroughly enjoying it! Thanks again, you're the best.

Unknown said...

You are so crafty!

the princess said...

you need to move back to arizona, girlie - i want to learn how to make all of those quilts you make. i need a mentor - you want the job?

Unknown said...

That is so cool.......no matter how close you get with the camera it won't do it justice. I tried to follow your detailed description but I am just not sure ....I have seen sweatshirts with ONE layer underneath and a small box shape with an "x" cut through it to reveal the underlying fabric but that's it. I'm never surprised by your ability I just don't know where you find the time to do all you do!