Generally speaking, we all love the idea of handmade things. However, folks tend to turn up their noses at handmade Christmas gifts, no matter how well they turn out. This year, I’m attempting to make gifts as many gifts as possible. I’m aiming for around 8-10. (Cross your fingers for me!) As I share these little projects, I hope to inspire you to do the same! No matter what your chosen medium, I’d love for you to share your handmade gifts as well!
For this week’s gift, I’m sharing a quilted blanket I made for G. This is my first quilt, so be kind! It’s mainly made from a collection of dress shirts and t-shirts that he’s grown out of over the last few years. And, there’s no batting since he runs fairly hot and as it’s really meant to lay across the foot of his bed.
The front is a collection of squares cut from his dress shirts but I ran short and ended adding in two from Hubb’s closet that I was planning to donate anyway. Once I had all of the squares cut out (6.5 x 6.5 – to allow a .25 inch all the way around) I lay the out on the dining room table to be sure that the arrangement was fairly balanced and random.
Considering, I basically had no idea what I was doing, it was no surprise that they ended up a tad unbalanced. Nothing a ruler and a pair of scissors wouldn’t cure! Now, for the back! I used old t-shirts that I had been saving for a while with a project like this in mind. These were cut larger to create 8 inch squares.
Since I didn’t use batting, all had to do to finish it was sew the right sides together. Once I had turned it right side out and stitched up the opening from the outside, I ironed it to be sure all of the edges were straight, etc. Next, I stitched the front to the back on the corners of the top side and alternately added shirt-buttons for a little bit of detail. The buttons mostly came from the dress shirts that I used but I added a few from my collection as well.
You wouldn’t believe how soft it is! And, it has a nice weight to it. I can’t wait to give it to him. I feel quite sure it won’t be as popular as video games, or anything else on his wish list. However, I feel quite confident, it will last much longer.
When I was a little girl I remember my great grandmother making quilts by hand. I remember thinking how old-fashioned and dated they looked. There were lots of color palettes from the 60’s and 70’s which didn’t go over to well for a teen in the 80’s. These days, I really wish I had one of those quilts.
Have a lovely afternoon! Talk to you soon!
Linking up at Met Monday!
