Sleepytime Blanket for Baby J

After finishing baby A's blanket I was rearing to make another one, this time for a friend of mine who gave birth at the beginning of March in Northern Ireland. It was rather a hard labour, but both mummy T and baby J are well and healthy.

We knew he was going to be a boy, so I decided to go down the very traditional route and make a blue themed blanket. I also used quite stiff backing, so it is more like a play mat than a blanket, although it can be used for either.

I was really inspired by some wonderful fabric from Plush Addict.

Isn't it amazing? I LOVE the little deer and the bees, although the second fabric up from the bottom was a bit weird. I didn't use that one. The rest was going to be scraps, so I drew out a rough plan for how I wanted it to look.

Some scraps were left over from baby A's blanket, some were from Coombe Cottage's material box, and some were from some charity shop clothes. They made a really nice selection of mostly boyish colours.

First I made the diagonal patterns. Each diamond was a quarter of a charm pack size (I'm learning the lingo!) Charm packs are 5 by 5 inches, so my quarter squares were 2.5 by 2.5 inches. Obviously this includes the includes seam allowances, so in the finished project they are smaller than this.

Here is me laying out the squares:

The green colours from my leftover fabric really add a nice element. I'm very into blue so I was worried they'd be too dull and spoil it, but it all worked out fine.

Then Tilly and I stitched them together in diagonal rows, like this;

Coming together, isn't it? This is always the exciting part of a project, when what's in your head begins to take shape. I made another panel the same, and then cut out the larger panels, tacking them together.

Isn't the 'Bambi' fabric wonderful? I love it! And i still have quite a lot left over... More projects to come, no doubt!

Then I pinned it to the backing - I used a wadding that had material on one side, which is easier to do, but the finished item won't be as pliable. Here it is pinned:

I know that it's a bit lopsided and everything, but I think the overall effect is okay. THEN, it was time to sew it together and to do the quilting! I did 'real' quilting this time- basically just sewed all of the diagonal lines to make sure thquilting didn't slip. Tilly struggled a bit getting through the quite thick layer of fabric (she's only little after all!) but we managed.

Do you want to see the finished product? Here goes...

TA DA! Yes, it still looks lopsided, but it is handmade after all.

With my Brave Little Bird label all stitched in.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with it, despite all its imperfections. And I think that Baby J likes it too:

He's only two weeks old - look how big he is! And how beautiful! Wishing Mummy T and Baby J all the love in the world

Hope you've enjoyed my blanket too, dear readers. Leave a comment if you want to.

Xx