Two Blankets, Two Ideas

I've recently made two pieced blankets for friends, and when I finished I thought they were the perfect patterns for a variety of blankets!  I am going to give you a semi tutorial.  Meaning if you've had a little experience on the machine, you'll be able to make these too.

(They are not difficult to make in the least, however, I am not doing a step by step how-to)

This was for my sweet friend Sara's new baby boy Simon.  I had a few 1/4 yards of fabric and was thinking and thinking of how to piece it and not have it look weird or like leftovers (which they weren't!).

My favorite part is the middle strip.  It'd be cute left alone, or with a variety of applique's.  I considered argyle diamonds, spelling out "sleep" or "Simon"...and ultimately settled on stars!!

On a side note, I made this ball to go with the blanket.  I always feel like I have to have a little something extra to go with "main" present.

Here are the measurements for this blanket.  The finished size is 38" x 23".  The measurements in the diagram below are what I cut the fabric, prior to sewing.  My seam allowance is 1/4".

Here is my pieced blanket #2.  This is a car seat blanket.  Heather and I discovered these about three years ago when we were making blankets for our soon to be babies, who were born only two days apart!  It is so nice to have a small blanket to squish around your newborn, instead of a full size blanket that you have to fold 8 times to get around them.

The same story for this one as well, it would be adorable without any applique at all...however an initial, heart, crown, etc. could make it so sweet too!

They can be finished by binding the edges or just simply turning inside out with a finishing stitch around the outside.  Either works. 

And when the baby gets older, it's a great little blankie to play peek-a-boo with :)

I always have to try and sneak one of my boy's in a photo shoot.  Guess it was Ollie's lucky day!

The finished size for this blanket was 24" square.  Once again, the measurements below are what the pieces were cut to, prior to sewing. My seam allowance is 1/4".

There you have it!  Two basic patterns to make a variety of easy pieced blankets!

If you are feeling adventurous and want to give one of these a try, please link us!  We'd love to see your finished project.  If you are a little nervous but would like to try it out, contact us because I'd love to answer any questions.

Happy Mother's Day!!  As for me?  Looking forward to snuggling on the couch with my oh so busy husband and watching a movie of my choice.  Mmmm can't wait.

What did you do?

Linking up to a few parties today: The Girl Creative, Between Naps on the Porch, It's So Very Cheri, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can Do, Soft Place to Land, Today's Creative Blog, Sew and Tell w/AmyLouWho and Sumo's Sweet Stuff.