Blanket #2 and Some Cute Little Bags

I finished the second blanket today and even had time to sew two little bags.

Here is the blanket. Same design as the other one just different fabric. I have been trying different places in the house to take pictures of these blankets and have not yet found anything that works really well.

This is in the sun room (see the ugly cushion covers; they are next on the sewing list.)

The big sisters of the babies-to-be will also be at the shower, so I got a few little things for them and made these bags to stash the goods. They were super easy and took only about ten minutes to make. I had the princess/fairy fabric left over from another project. These would be great for birthday party favor bags.

Sewing Success!

I am super pleased with the blanket I made today--same fabric as the earlier one, so no new pic though. I used 10" squares, and the finished project was 26" x 34".

• While fleece is a fairly forgiving fabric with which to sew, making the squares as square as possible is key. My wonderful husband, who happens to a skilled carpenter, whipped out his oversized square and helped me get everything lined up perfectly.
• Use a straight stitch--my machine was set a #4 for stitch length.
• Trim the seams severely. This really helped the blanket look more finished and sew together much more smoothly.
• If you pull gently on fleece, it will curl to the wrong side.

Baby Blanket--Take 2

I made this blanket tonight in about four hours.

The fabric is from JoAnn Fabric. It is for a baby shower present, but I wanted something that wasn't too frilly and could be used by the child past infancy.

Considering I have never made anything like this nor worked with fleece before, it turned out o.k. I started out with 9" squares, and the finished project is 23" x 30". I think on the next one, I will increase the size of the squares 1/2 inch, so the overall blanket is a bit bigger.

I used the zig zag stitch thinking that would be stronger, but I don't like the way it looks in the end. For the next one, I will try a straight stitch and see how that works out. I should also make the opening in the end a bit smaller, so there is not as much hand sewing to do once the blanket is turned right side out.

Sewing 101--Baby Blanket

I am what you would call a beginning sewer. I have taken one class at the community center about five years ago, and just wing it with most of my projects. So far, I have made some basic things like pillows, curtains, and cushion covers (more about those later).

I am making two baby blankets for a joint baby shower later this month. Although baby blankets don't look too difficult, I went with the Cuddly Quilt Kit from Joann's Fabric store for the first one.

I finished cutting the blocks today and sewing them into strips. The blocks are 7.5 x 8" each and primarily flannel with two satin ones. The satin ones were a bit tricky, but I just pinned them like crazy to keep them in place, and they turned out o.k.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the strips sewn together and then tackle the plush sides and backing.

Baby Shower Recap

We did it! We kept the shower a secret despite a last minute change in my sister's plans, and everyone had a good time.

Here is the diaper cake I made. It was really easy to do, but I do have to give credit to those that helped with the inspiration. This You Tube video is good, and I liked the way this "cake" from Alpha+Mom was wrapped to cover up the designs on the diapers. Try finding plain white diapers!



I usually test recipes before I serve them, but I didn't have time to do that with everything this time. I used Martha Stewart's meringue butter cream recipe for the cupcake frosting. It was delicious. How can you go wrong with anything that has 8 sticks of butter in it!


The color of this photo isn't quite right, but I like the composition. If you want to see some truly beautiful cupcakes that are really more art than food, check out Flickr.

Baby Shower Mania

My sister and I are hosting a surprise baby shower for our other sister on Saturday. We have been super busy making decorations, setting the menu, and orchestrating events, so the day goes off successfully. My sister was the kid who hunted down her hidden Christmas presents, opened them, and retaped the wrapping, so she could find out what she was getting before Christmas morning. If we are able to keep this shower a surprise, it will be a major accomplishment in our family. (She doesn't know about this blog yet either :)

As with most things I undertake, I did a lot of research. There are hundreds of baby shower sites out there. Some of the most helpful were other blogs, such as Alpha+Mom and Homemade by Jill. We are having about fifteen people, and here is the menu. Nothing too fancy, but I think it will be nice.

• chocolate raisins, mints, nuts, jelly beans
• yummy crab dip (I confess that this is store purchased, but I have not been able to find a recipe that beats it.)
• cheese/crackers/chips
• fruit salad
• mini chicken salad sandwiches
• deviled eggs

My sister does not like cake, so we are going to have assorted sweets instead.

• homemade banana bread
• strawberry mousse (thank you Simply Recipes)
• Special K bars (this is my mother-in-law's recipe. simple and always the first to go at a party)
  
• Angel food cupcakes

For beverages, we are going to have just punch and water. When I first set up house, my mom got me a 1973 copy of the Betty Crocker cookbook. While some of the recipes look totally disgusting and mayonnaise heavy, it is great for recipes like punch.

That's about it for now; I will post pictures of the shower and more information about the decorations we made later.