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Chenille Baby Blanket


I fell in love months ago with this baby blanket at Aesthetic Nest.  When I found out my sister-in-law was expecting I couldn't wait to make one as a gift.  Because I didn't know the sex of the baby I thought that a navy, white and pale yellow combo would be perfect.

I ordered up my supplies from Fabric.com.  One and one-half yards each of Premier Prints ZigZag Twill Blue, Solid Flannel Navy, Solid Flannel White and Solid Flannel Yellow. (See also "Cotton chenille" post.)

Anneliese's tutorial is great, I followed it exactly...except for the part where I had it quilted by a friend with a long-arm machine after I realized that sewing zigzags across 45" square of thick twill layered with flannel wasn't going to work on my machine. (Thanks Gail!).

I layered the white, yellow and blue flannel over the wrong side of the chevron twill fabric and trimmed the whole thing to about 48" square.  Once the quilting was done, it was a snap to snip the flannel while watching TV over a few evenings.

I loved the rounded corners in the original blanket so I replicated them and then quickly bound the blanket in white twill tape from Jo-Ann Fabric.  I was a bit concerned about the washing step because I hadn't pre-washed any of my fabrics so I tossed the whole thing in the wash with a few homemade "color catchers" from a tutorial here.  Sadly the navy flannel ran like crazy.  On the plus side, the fraying looked great!  I washed the blanket twice more with about a half-dozen Shout-brand color catchers and called it quits. The yellow flannel lost most of its color and the overall result was a faded-denim effect.

Even though it didn't turn out exactly as expected, I just love this blanket. It is sturdy and cozy and makes a great play mat.  My 7-month-old nephew tried it out and I think he liked it!  I hope his sister will like it too!  I had finished the quilt a day or so before we found out the new baby's sex and I gave it to my S-I-L on the same day.

Now I think I'll make myself one for babysitting duty.  I'm thinking straight cut chenille from this fabric with self-binding and perhaps an all lilac flannel back.


Thanks to Anneliese at Aesthetic Nest for a beautiful project!

Alisa


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