STITCH LINES...... Ramblings on life as a quilter, stitcher, traveler, photographer, gardener and lover of books, cats and fine chocolate....

Friday, January 8, 2016

A Quick and Easy Gift for Miss Claire




I think this was the first Christmas in a long time that I have not done any sewing/quilting projects for gifts. It certainly did remove a little stress from the holiday preparations!  :)  I did however make a gift for granddaughter Claire who was 2 in late August. I must admit I'm a little out of touch with who's who in the toddler world these days but I did know that Dora the Explorer is a favourite with Claire. I was lucky to find some lovely "Dora fleece" a few weeks back and matched it up with a solid purple for a fleece tie blanket. What little girl doesn't like "puhple"? Her bedroom is "puhple" and if a two year old can have a favourite colour, I'd say purple is it for Miss Claire. So Dora + purple = win/win!







It was a HUGE hit! She went nuts when she opened it! (If only every gift was received with such enthusiasm!!) It went everywhere with her while she was here for a few days just before Christmas, and of course covered her at night too. As you can see, it makes a great chair cover, when reading Dolly a story.

Have you tried making one of these? SO quick and easy! All you need are two pieces of fleece (the same size) and a pair of scissors or shears, and about an hour to an hour and a half. That's it. No sewing skills needed at all! You simply layer the two pieces of fleece, wrong sides together. Trim the edges if needed, so that the two pieces are exactly the same size. My fleece was 60" wide, so I bought 60" of length and I trimmed off roughly an inch all around. (This gets rid of any selvage or curly/wobbly edges.)

Enjoying a new book - see previous post







Next you cut a 4" square out of each corner, cutting through both layers. Then simply make slash cuts, about an inch apart and in 4" all around the entire blanket, again cutting through both layers. To finish you simply tie each pair of "slashes" together. That's it! Easy peasy! I confess, I used my rotary cutter and mat rather than shears. This kept all my cuts straight and even. This was a first for me, but what a fast simple gift for a little (or big!) person. I'm sorry, I never thought to take photos during the process, but it's pretty simple. If you want to make one and have any questions, just leave me a comment and I'll answer.








Just a few days after Christmas my great-niece Mallory called and asked if I knew how to make a fleece tie blanket and if so would I help her make one? "Why yes, I do!" I replied. haha
Her Mom had received one for Christmas so Mallory decided she'd like one too. So off we went to Fabricville to choose some fleece, came home and zip, zip, it was done! We both did some cutting and tieing and it was done in no time! What fun! And two special girls now have cozy blankets. I think Martha would say "That's a good thing..."


Peace,
Linda

"May no gift be too small to give, nor too simple to receive, which is wrapped in thoughtfulness and tied with love." ~ L. O. Baird

11 comments:

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

Don't you love it when a simple handmade gift is loved like the Dora blanket. Sounds easy to make, even I could do it. :-) Apparently sock monkeys were big for gifts at Christmas, I even saw adult sized sock monkey onesies at a bazaar that were selling like hot cakes.

kath001 said...

What a cutie! Our littlest grand loved Dora. I miss Dora...the tween Disney shows just aren't the same.

Sara - Villa Emilia said...

What a lovely post, dear Linda! Claire's smile in the first photo just made my day!
Have a great weekend!

Pamela Gordon said...

I've not made one of these but I know they are easy to do. I like the birds on Mallory's. Fleece is so cozy.

Pamela Gordon said...

Linda, I forgot to say what a sweet little girl Claire is. I'm glad you had a great visit with her at Christmas. Kids do love their fleece blankets a lot! :)

Sheryl said...

Pretty little girl with a pretty Dora blanket. Doesn´t it make you feel so good when the handmade gift is so appreciated.

Sheila said...

Miss Claire is adorable and her new blanket will surely get lots of use , so nice and cuddly and a perfect colour too .

Dolores said...

What a great gift - one that is so loved. I love the photo of Claire reading to her dolly. My children were the recipients of those fleece blankets. They were a gift several years ago from my son's girlfriend and all of them still use them.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Oh Fun!! A two year old that LOVES her gift. So gratifying. AND a niece that thinks you are the Go To person to help her create her own blanket. More gratification!! I've made a few of those blankets in my day too.
xx, Carol

GailM. said...

Oh, doesn't that just warm your heart. Miss Claire is a cutie. Dora was a hit in our house too. I made an I spy quilt. Dora was the favorite patch.

Gwen Buchanan said...

A gift everyone would love. warm and snuggly to cosy up in.
Linda, The girls are both beautiful.. and so nice to see your niece working away on hers!
Happy New Year!!

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