Fleece Blanket Tutorial

Several friends have asked me how I make my fleece blankets.  I finished this one up this afternoon and took lots of photos during the process.

I always work from the back side of the quilt so I can see what I am doing.  The pink is actually the back of this blanket.

No batting needed.  I just pinned the black fleece wrong side up to the leaders and then floated the pink fleece on top.  Both pieces are the same size--two yards each make a 60 x 72 throw.

Then, I measure 3.5 inches down from the top.  With my channel locks, I sew all along the top, stitching the pink to the black.  Then measure 3.5 inches on either side and stitch a line down each side.

Right

Left

Quilting inside this "frame" I advance down the quilt.  Each time I advance, I continue my stitching line 3.5 inches from either side.

When I get to the bottom, I pin the pink to the black and then stitch 3.5 inches from the edge all the way across the bottom.  Turning and then stitching back up to meet where I ended the stitching on the far side.

I take out the pins and finish filling in the quilting inside my stitched frame.

 After I take the blanket off the frame, using my ruler, I place my 2.5 inch mark on the stitching line and trim the edge at 2.5 inches all the way around the quilt.

I like a 2.5 inch border and sometimes on a smaller fleece blanket I will do a 2 inch border.  I like more fleece in the blanket and less fleece in the flaps around the edge.

Cut out a square out of each corner.

Then I square up the edge of the blanket on my cutting mat. I place my ruler on the line of stitching and use it for a backstop.

This way, each cut is exactly one inch and they are all exactly the same depth.

This particular blanket was for a special little girl named Sophia.  I hid her name in the quilting.

How fun is that?

This is for her 12th birthday.


You can check out my album for more Fleece Blankets .