Lily's Blankie and "Real Stitches"

I made this blankie for my dear friend Tiffany, who is expecting her first daughter, Lily, within the next month. We hosted a shower for her last weekend in my parent's backyard in Medford, and she received some preciously adorable and deliciously delicate gifts! I can't wait until its time for Lily to come; I dearly love all of my friends' little boys, and I have a feeling I'll have a boy first too (when my time comes, not yet!), but there is just something about little girls that is painfully cute.The coloring of the above pictures is not that great, I wish it had turned out better!

I made this cotton flannel blankie with satin binding in a couple of evenings, but I'm sure it could be done in one evening, it was surprisingly simple. The hardest part was the satin binding and the corners, which took up most of my time and brain energy. One side of the blankie is a playful princess-ballerina print with stars (because Lily IS going to be a dancer) and the reverse is a soft pink solid. The black binding is in homage to Tiff and her husband, they both like black with almost everything! It works!

I google-d flannel blankie DIYs and just made up my own pattern. I sewed the pieces wrong-side up, turned the blankie inside out, and stitched the small opening closed. I used tons of pins when I sewed on the binding, and though that was very helpful, it still was a brat to get straight. The corners caused me the most pain - I almost failed geometry in high school and this is no different - but again I used a lot of pins and google-d "mitered quilt edge" and got some great tutorials. I used Wright's binding and they have a nice tutorial on their website that was helpful.

I was smiling ear to ear when I finished this project; Blankie is SO soft and light enough to be used all year. I think I have found another favorite project to add to my small yet slowly growing reperatoire of sew-skills. What was so hilarious about this gift is when she opened it she exclaimed, "oh my gosh, there is real stitching on this!" meaning, I am notorious for giving up on sewing projects and resorting to stitch witchery or glue because I'm such a sewing numskull. Another win for the gipper (in this case, me)!

(Shower goodies: fruit, veggies, quiche, the best warm-asparagus salad EVER, fresh sugar snap peas, and super delish chicken-almond tea sandwiches. Not pictured were the beautiful chocolate covered strawberries) Mommy Tiff and my cute mom in background) (Coldstone Chocolate Chipper Cake - I had 2 pieces)