The nursery is red & white, you say?

So mostly I've been cleaning closets, giving away small kids' clothes, back-to-school uniform shopping, house-painting, studio reorganizing, and eating tomatoes from my dad's garden which are out of this world good. Nevermind that he and mom live 3 hours away. Where there's a quickly ripening garden of red juicy perfection there's a way. But yes, eating lots and lots of tomatoes with a healthy helping of the richest olive oil. Now that we've all gotten our antioxidants, look at the baby blanket I finished today!

I've had the fabric, 4" satin ribbon, and the bunny-softest flannel set aside for quite some time. My sweet friend Julie that I've known since 8th grade has given birth to her first baby and the nursery is white with bits of red and I am so glad. (AND I think I should overuse AND in some more sentences AND continue to run-on, you?)

The simple pairing of the already washed home decor weight fabric and flannel (with no batting) makes for a very practical not-too-heavy baby blankie that will only get softer and softer with each washing. I do love a baby quilt, but really wanted to give her something that she's not afraid to use. This was also the perfect opportunity to mess around with some freemotion stitching on my machine. When I came home from quilt market my mom showed me how to do this on the machine that I have owned for 8 years. (I just can't be bothered with learning such things immediately after purchase-immediately here means anywhere within 8 years.) The print of this fabric was ideal for making larger general shapes around the vertical bouquets without getting too fussy with it. I decided to use the pale pink thread to make any little mistakes less obvious on the flannel side. The stitching pattern on the cream side turned out really pretty, but difficult to see with a full size photo.

I folded the ribbon and treated it just like quilt binding but finished it with machine sewing instead of hand sewing which I think is neater looking on satin. Oh, and one little tip: before I pinned the fabrics wrong sides together, I pressed a few little 1x1" scraps of Steam-a-Seam scattered every 10" inches between the two layers then pressed them smoothly together. It's essentially like tacking the fabrics together with fusible. It was very helpful in keeping everything in place and prevented me from having to use a ton of pins that get in the way of stitching.

So right after I load our well-worn baby bassinet into the car for borrowing, finish wrapping the gift, pick up dinner and wine, I'm heading for a night with a newborn. Oh, and her mommy. I fully intend to let that munchie-pie have her way with this new blankie while Julie and I dine and have some mother chat. Wishing you as much fun, xo,AM