Crew Cab Blizzard Blankets

As I was cleaning and organizing my studio last week, I thought about ways to use up these three drawers full of Minky scraps.

Since we are rapidly going into winter here in Idaho . . .

November 5, 2010

. . . I thought about all the times we head into town and like to have an extra blanket tucked in the back seat of the truck. You see, all the folks out here live a long ways from town, almost everyone has at least one truck and lots of those trucks are Crew Cabs so there's room for the family. It's a way of life out here and the ONLY way you can get around in the winter. 

With that thought in mind, the Crew Cab Blizzard Blanket was born!

1) Minky scraps 2) a width of cowboy flannel 3) some fleece binding.

I used the minky for the "back" so I could use the word stripes as a guide for quilting--just enough doodles here to hold it all together.

 Fabric is Riley Blake "I Wanna Be a Cowboy 2," Cowboy Quotes.

I dug out some polar fleece for the binding.

You can see how I make a fleece binding here.

He ain't too pretty, but he might be your best friend in a blizzard!

See how "hefty" this blanket looks?  It's 42x50, yet lightweight. For batting I pieced 3 leftover strips of  Hobbs 80/20.

You can see how I piece batting here.

Wait!!  There's more.  I made a companion:

This one's a little more girly. 

Same Riley Blake cowboy flannel line only in pink. 

I had exactly one chunk of this fabulous pink curly Minky (left over from a granddaughter's blanket).

I just love the feel of curly minky. 

There is not one inch of either of these blankets that is not cuddly, soft and warm.

I have donated these to a benefit auction Monday night for BrynLee Hutchison along with my western wall hanging I posted here. 

For some of you readers--you might be wondering why all my focus is on "Western" themed articles for this auction. You see, this baby's daddy was a jockey and a rodeo clown. His brother-in-law is currently a jockey. Over the years, their extended family has competed in cutter races, horse racing and rodeos.  They train horses and make saddles. They have been embedded in our western way of life for 3 generations and our families have known each other that long.

Having said that, I know there will be lots of folks there from the rodeo crowd and horse world that will be bidding on items.

Oh, by the way, I might have a lot more "Blizzard Blankets" to make, remember that first photo at the top of this post way back before I started running on and on.....remember that photo of my 3 drawers stuffed full of minky?  Well, that photo was taken AFTER these two were made.

Fleece Binding

There are just some quilts that can get away with this binding treatment.

Minky, flannel, fleece binding.

It's super easy, the only catch is that you have to round the corners. There is no way you can fold and miter fleece. 

Here's how I make this happen:

After the quilt is quilted, I use a dinner plate to mark the corners. Then I stitch on the mark to secure all the fabric layers and then trim the corners. I didn't think to take a photo but you get the idea.

Cut enough 2.5 inch strips from fleece to go all the way around your quilt plus about 12 inches.  Always make sure any seam in the binding is stitched the diagonal (99% of my bindings are joined in a like manner.)  This eliminates bulk, by ensuring your seams (when the binding is folded) will not sit directly on top of each other.

Now, you won't fold this fleece to attach, I am just illustrating the reason behind the diagonal seams.

Sew the open binding to one side of your quilt.  Right sides together. When you get to your starting point, measure, trim on the diagonal and stitch closed.

Here we have a layer of flannel, batting, Minky, and fleece. I sewed the fleece binding onto the Minky side of the quilt with a 1/2 inch seam. There really isn't a front and back here on this quilt, but soon you will see why I chose this side. 

Turn the binding to the other side and stitch in the ditch catching the under side of the binding strip, you will have plenty of fleece.  

This is what you will end up with . . .

 . . . then trim closely to the stitching line and you are done!

I didn't want to be trimming the edge and fighting the pile on the Minky; hence I sewed the binding onto the Minky side first so I would be working with my scissors next to the flannel. Fleece won't fray and once it's sewed, it's like iron! You are going to be challenged if you have to pick out any stitches.

Tip the binding up just a bit . . .

. . . and hold the scissors sideways and very flat to trim.

~Feels like a cloud~

Piecing Batting

You can save large strips of batting and piece them for small quilts that will receive a fair amount of quilting.

Overlap your two pieces about 3 inches.  

Make a serpentine cut all along the overlapped portion. 

Before you cut, make sure you have both the right sides up before you cut.  How to tell? Most needle punched cotton bats have a right and a wrong side. Take a pin and poke it in the batting 5-6 times.  Notice the resistance or lack thereof.  Turn the batting over and repeat.  The side with the least resistance is the top.  You don't want your sewing needle to stitch into the resistant side when you are quilting.

Remove the little strips and you have a perfectly matched joint. 

Butt up the 2 edges on the ironing board. 

Iron on a 3 inch strip of lightweight interfacing.  Someone actually makes a product on a roll for piecing batting, I have only heard about it though. 

Front

Back. 

You can do the same with a polyester bat, except you have to zigzag or whip stitch the joint together.  Polyester does funny melt-y things under the iron.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Thanks to Amy's Creative Side  for once again hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I encourage you to head over to Amy's for a wonderful show of hundreds of different and unique quilts from other bloggers. Pull up a seat, grab your favorite beverage and enjoy everyone's talents and creativity!

My Fall Quilt Festival entry is this Western wall hanging made for a Benefit Auction.

Headin' Home!

This will be auctioned off in our small Southern Idaho community next week. It will help raise funds for a family needing to take their baby to Boston to a special surgeon. You can read all about BrynLee 2 Boston in my recent blog post. 

I was thrilled to be able to go to my stash and use a piece "Gradiations" fabric by Caryl Bryer Fallert for the background. A couple of years ago, I bought 4 different color combinations of hers at a quilt show, but had not had the opportunity to use any . . . yet.

The colors in this fabric were perfect for a sunset!

Silhouette by Cutter Creations and quilt hangers by Summer Sky Creations.

You can find many more details about the products in this little quilt here.

Thanks again to Amy for hosting the Festival.  What a great opportunity to enjoy everyone's talented contributions!

BrynLee 2 Boston

I made this wall hanging to donate to a benefit auction that will be held for 4-month old BrynLee Nichole Hutchison.

Headin' Home!

Dinner and Auction

Monday - Nov. 7th at 6 pm.

Raft River High School Gym

Malta, ID

You can read all about this baby on her blog:

BrynLee Nichole Hutchison  

Here is a brief synopsis of BrynLee's story:

"BrynLee was born with a rare condition called Bladder Exstrophy in which her bladder and abdomen did not form correctly in utero. BrynLee had her first surgery at 2 days old and about 10 weeks later had her second surgery. She has more surgeries ahead of her to complete the repair. She is currently being treated by a wonderful team of doctors at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT and has received wonderful care. There is a more experienced Bladder Exstrophy surgeon in Boston, MA named Dr. Joseph Borer.  Our goal is to help her parents get BrynLee to Boston to see Dr. Borer in the next 6 months!"

. . . and here are some details about the products I used for this wall hanging:

Batting: Quilters Dream Poly-Weighty Loft.  It is great for wall hangings, as it never sags, it lays super flat, yet gives your quilting nice texture.  I wouldn't use it for anything else though, it doesn't drape well for a regular quilt.

See . . . here it is "standing" up all by itself!

Thread: Superior Thread's monofilament Mono.Poly in smoke color. Can you see a tangle of it to the right of the spool here on the batting? It's like threading a hair through your needle, but it works great. You just have to turn down both your upper and lower tension to almost nothing to sew with this thread.

Clear monofilament tends to look shiny on the fabric, but not the smoke.   

Fabric: When I decided to make this, I rummaged through my stash and found a yard of Caryl Bryer Fallert's "Gradations" that I used for the background.

Silhouette: No, I didn't cut these out myself!  I just happened to have this silhouette on hand from a trip to HMQS a couple of years ago. Made by Cutter Creations out of Michigan.

Now I love McKenna Ryan patterns and I even made one of her small wall hangings several years ago. But for me--cutting, placing and fusing all those teeny-tiny pieces is like crocheting or knitting--I just don't have the patience!!

What a joy to roll out these three pre-cut cowboys!

I always sew my hanging sleeve into my upper binding and then secure the other edge to the quilt back fabric with my hemming stitch/foot.  It takes a bit of practice, but once you get your stitch length just right and your quilt folded just right, it's a breeze.

Wall Hangers: Hubby chipped in for these cute western hangers from Summer Sky Creations in Arizona.  I gave him a choice: he could make me hangers out of horse shoes, or well . . ummm . . .  what did he think about these old boots right here on this cute website? 

He also helped me anchor the whole wall hanging to a couple sheets of paper covered cardboard. All the donated items will be displayed in the gym before and during the dinner. The auction will be after the dinner is cleaned up.  This wall hanging is secured with zip ties as are the 2 sheets of cardboard so it can fold flat or stand up. Whom ever buys it can easily carry it home assured they have all the parts.

I have been to several of these dinner/auctions and it never ceases to amaze me how supportive our small communities are when there is a need.

~Yee Haw~