Taggie Blanket Project

Well, I know I shared pictures of the MU taggie blankie before this point, but I never got around to actually blogging the project.  My original plan was to make two very sporty blankets--one for Claire, one for Matt's second cousin who had a baby shower a few weeks ago.  However, I've never made a formal taggie blanket before.  Crazy, right?  Well, my idea stemmed from this side project I threw together before Claire was born with some scrap pieces from her baby quilts.  I figured it would be cool for her to have when she got older and had dollies or something (she's my kid, who are we kidding, she'll have dinosaurs and stuffed animals, but everyone needs a blankie).  I put ribbons on that and  used quilt batting... it was like a cute mini quilt.  Well, we started using it as our car seat blanket and never looked back (well, except I was quite aware it was never really meant to see the light of day). 

 

My momma makes all my blankies, no big deal.

So I decided, along with renewing our MU football season tickets, that Claire must join the MU heritage and get herself an MU blankie.  I knew the fabric was on sale (yay!) so I set to work getting supplies.  I also planned on getting Cardinals stuff--who knew it would be so hard to find?  Along with red or navy minkie fleece, which I think doesn't exist at all.

So what did I buy for these?  Each top print I bought 1/4 of a yard for.  I bought a half yard of the minkie fleece for both blankets.  I cut the 1/4 yards into 5 inch squares (because, impressively enough, I was able to do enough math to figure out that was the best size for using up the most fabric).  I ended up making it 5x4, if you notice, so it would be a rectangle.

I've never sewn this fleece before so I didn't know if it would pose a problem.  Unfortunately on the MU blankie it really didn't.  I tucked the ribbons in and pinned it and sewed and top stitched and it came out great!  I was on a high--except I didn't know what to do for the other gift quilt.  I settled on the prints after I had half the store (customers and workers) helping me pair fabrics.  I wanted to go with baby chic, since the second cousin I didn't know seemed pretty fancy (in the pictures I stalked off of her facebook page).  As you can see, I tried a different pattern, based on my love of one of the quilts I made Claire.

This is when I discovered the unsurpassed stretchiness of minky fleece.  Holy cow!  That top was harder to sew than a regular quilt!  I paired this one with different color ribbons and I don't mind saying the end result doesn't look half bad.  I don't know that it looks fully good... but it's not half bad. 

 

I've actually tossed around the idea of making these and selling them.  I think it would be fun.  The blankets were easy enough to make and ironically turned out perfect for car seat, nap time, and soon to be perfect for the first MU game Claire goes to!

All and all, a really fun beginner's project, or a really fun project to start taking orders for!

You can't take my blankie!  Go get your own!