Owen's 2nd Birthday Book!

Instead of a blanket, I made Owen a quiet book for his 2nd birthday because he still has the blanket I made for him when he was born.  I had this idea because I thought it would be a comparable gift to a blanket and still have the same home-made with love quality.  Maybe it did to the receiver, but it didn't for the giver.  Turns out, making one of these books was WAY more work than the blankets!!  In the end it was worth it.  I was happy with the way it turned out and Owen seemed to really like it too.

The front Cover:

The cover of the book wraps around and closes with a large button.

Page 1: "Drive the Car"

Pages 2 - 3: "Choose a color", and "Count the pepperoni".

Pages 4-5: "The Itsy Bisty Spider", and "What did the whale eat?"

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

It's kind of hard to see from the pictures, but the mouth is a zipper.

There are 10 colored fish inside.

Pages 6-7: "Pick a flower", and "Who is in the barn?"

After all the flowers have been picked

Finger puppets!

Page 8: "Find a Match"

This is possibly my favorite page

The matches are pictures of the family.  This one is Owen, the birthday boy!

All the pictures tags are removable and can be put back in any order making a new game each time.

My signature tag on the back cover of the book.  I put it next to the cat to reflect my faithful little helper during the entire project.

Here he is. Mo loves to sew!!

Owen opening his present at his birthday party.  He liked the car page the best.

Playing at home

He likes the family pictures.  How cute is his little tongue in every picture?

Ethan's 4th Birthday Blanket!

It was fun to spend time with Ethan for his birthday.  He lives in Arizona so we don't get to see him very often.  Because of that, he doesn't really know who I am.  It made me excited to give him his blanket so he can know I love him, even if I'm kind of a stranger.

He talked to me more this visit than he ever has before and told me "I remember when I was scared of you, but you're not scary anymore."  Ummm... thanks Ethan!  Kids are cute.

Ethan's blanket
38" x 46" with 2" of fringe on each end.

Ethan's favorite colors are orange and blue.  He was very excited his blanket would match his room.

He seems to like it.

Happy 13th Birthday Riley

Happy Birthday Riley!  We have a teenager in the house!!!

This is the first blanket I've ever made that is different on the front than it is on the back.  On one side you have a good minion and when you flip it over and upside down, you get a bad minion.

Minion Blanket
33.5" x 48" with 2.5" of black fringe and 5.5" of purple fringe

The pictures don't quite do the purple fringe justice.  It's really soft and crazy!

This is one of my favorite blankets so far.  I really like how the teeth turned out and I love that it is recognizable as a minion.

I think Riley likes it too :)

Lucy's 5th Birthday Blanket

Lucy turned 5 today!

This has been my favorite blanket so far.  Not so much for the blanket itself, but for the delivery.

Lucy's Blanket "with bumps"
3.5' x 4.5'

Lucy saw me making Charley's blanket and told me she wanted a blanket like that "with the bumps."  She told me her favorite colors were red, green, and yellow, but I was hesitant to believe her because this conversation happened shortly after Christmas and I was afraid she wouldn't really like those colors once the excitement of the holidays wore off.  I checked back with her several times and she kept insisting those were her favorite colors.  I tried to mute the Christmasy feeling by picking less bold shades of green and yellow, and by adding additional yarn that incorporated lots of colors, but in the end, I still think it looks like Christmas.

Lucy already has a favorite blanket, and I certainly wasn't trying to replace that, especially since I was a blanket kid and can appreciate the loyalty that goes into having a blanket, but I really wanted her to like this one.

Success!  As soon as she opened it she said she loved it and that "it was good enough to suck her thumb."  Cute!  There is no greater compliment from a 5 year old.

Proof that this blanket is good enough to suck your thumb.

Happy fifth birthday Lucy!

Charley's 2nd Birthday Blanket

Today, Miss Charley Kay turned 2 and received this blanket I made for her.

Hankie Blankie
42"x27"

I chose these colors and design because Charley has a favorite toy.  It's a stuffed dragon named Hank. I thought it would be fun to have a blanket that she and Hank could enjoy snuggling up with together.

She seemed to like it.

Hallie's Birth Day Blanket

Well, we didn't get much of a chance to celebrate Rachel's Birthday yesterday before we got the news that she would be sharing her birthday with Baby Hallie who decided to make her appearance into the world 6 weeks early!

It was a crazy morning, but I'm happy to announce Mom and baby are both doing well.  Hallie will be spending some time in the NICU until her little lungs and sucking reflex develop further, but she's doing amazingly well.

Even though her due date wasn't until May 4, I've had her blanket finished for a while.  I was happy to be able to give it to her on her actual birthday, especially since she has to spend so much time away from Mom in the NICU.  I wanted Mom to have something soft to snuggle when she can't hold her baby.

Hallie's Birth Day Blanket
Finished size: 2' 6" x 3' 3"
Inside size: 2' x 2' 9"
border is 3" on each side

This close up picture is a little blurry, but I think the effect makes it look like a watercolor painting.  The color on this yarn label was called "ice cream."  The yarn on this one is super soft.  It made it kind of difficult to work with, but resulted in an amazingly cuddly blanket.

Here is a close up of the border.  It wasn't until I was posting this picture that I realized I sewed the name tag on the wrong side.  The shell pattern in the body of the blanket is supposed to go the other way so if you turn the blanket so the shells are right side up, the label is upside down.  Oh well.  

Hallie Elaine Boynton
March 20, 2016
4 lbs 6 oz, 18" long

5/20/17 UPDATE:
Baby Hallie came home from the hospital after a month long stay and is doing great!  She likes her blanket.

Rachel's 10th Birthday Blanket

This is the blanket I made for Ms. Rachel.  She will be turning 10 on Sunday, March 20.  Mailing this blanket was kind of a big deal for me because it puts me past the point of no return.  Even if I don't finish all of the blankets for all the kids this year, I've at least committed to finishing 4 for this family and the word will be out that blankets are coming and the expectation will be set.  Kristin says I'm over analyzing things, but I can't help it.  I just don't want anyone to feel left out.

Pastel Granny Squares
61.5" x 38" with 5.5"of fringe on each side

Close up of big and little squares  I really like how this turned out, although I really don't think the pictures do it justice.

My name tag.

I've had this blanket finished for months. I'm excited to finally be wrapping it to mail.

Leah's 3rd Birthday Blankets

As I mentioned in my last post I'm making blankets for all of the nieces and nephews this year.  The first birthday is today.  Miss Leah Jane is turning 3!  I made a blanket for her when she was born, so I wanted to make her something else instead. I was thinking of making some clothes for her dolls who are always naked. She is so adorable playing with her babies and loves them so much!  But, when I asked her what kind of clothes she wanted she insisted they not have clothes.  She said she wanted a "Rainbow from the Sky Blanket."  I don't know exactly what she meant by that, but this is what I ended up with.

"Rainbow from the Sky Blanket"
16.5" x 10"

Since the "Rainbow from the Sky Blanket" was so tiny, I decided I would make a bunch of blankets that she could wrap up her naked babies with.

This next one matches the one I made for her when she was born so she and her baby can match.

Replica's of Leah's Baby Blanket 22" x 14"
Inside size 12" x 20", 36 dc per row, 34 rows

Her favorite color is pink so for the rest I just made some different things using mostly pink.

Baby Blanket 16" x 11"
Inside size 12" x 8", 25 dc per row, 21 rows

Baby Blanket 20.5" x 10"
Inside size 15" x 10"

Pink Granny Squares Baby Blanket 18" x 12.25"
Inside size 10.5" x 21"

Leah opening her birthday blankets.  I LOVE that smile!

Someone else had the same idea I did and quilted some baby blankets for Leah's Birthday.  These babies are laying on top of the quilts and you can see some of the others on the right of the picture.  All the babies will be very comfy!  I love that she used the box my blankets came in as beds.