Winter Wrap-Up: Part Three

This is the last part of my little mini-series.  I'm so glad I can dream up random projects that I feel really urgently need to get done.  Otherwise I might lose my mind in the long dark winters.

This last project has actually been on my mind for a while.  I'm pretty sure everybody has at least one of those giveaway fleece throws with some company or another's logo on it.  We have one that is a really nice size for a picnic blanket and the kids like to curl up in it to watch TV at night.

The problem with these blankets is that they are magnetic.  I swear if there is a cat hair or piece of grass within a mile it will gravitate to these blankets.  So, I decided to cover it with woven cotton fabric.  Essentially, I used the original blanket as the stuffing for a small quilt.

I found some random fabrics in my stash.  About five yards worth.  All woven cotton.  I gave them a quick pre-wash and dry to eliminate any shrinkage.  Then I got out my scissors and started cutting.  I wanted to get this done quickly, so I cut big blocks.  For the front, I used 3 different patterns and cut them all into 1/4 yard blocks.  Approximately.  I do a lot of things by eyeballing.  So, I folded the fabric in half, cut on the fold, folded again, cut again.  Then I laid the pieces out over the original throw until I had enough pieces to cover it.

I sewed the front together in rows.  Each row has 3 pieces.  Two long and one short.  As it happened, I was about 3 inches short on the length.  So, I took some of the leftover orange fabric and pieced together a long strip to attach to the top.

For the back, I just cut two colors of cotton into big rectangles and did a nine patch pattern.  Pretty easy peasy.

Next, I sewed the front on to the fleece. 

Then attached the back by putting it wrong side out over the front of the blanket.  Once I got almost all the way around, I turned it right side out, closed up the seam and ran a simple top stitch around the edges.  Just to give it a little extra strength, I ran a line of stitches across the front about 1/3 and 2/3 of the way down the blanket.  I'll pretend it's my "quilting".

Now we have a nice little fluffy quilt with kitties on it.  The kids like that it's bright colored and cute, I like that it's not covered in cat hair.  Matt likes that the kids aren't stealing his blanket.  Everybody wins.

Now, on to Spring projects.  Just in time too because the weather is warming up.  Time to order seeds and get things going for the garden!

Oh and before I forget, I got featured on a blog that I dearly love called Little House Living!  Merissa has a new series called "Making the Most With What You Have".  I filled out her questionnaire a few months ago and she published my story last week!  I'm so excited!  Thank you Merissa for publishing my story!