Thursday is usually my “Thoughts on Life” post, but I wanted to share this blanket today. I am feeling a little directionless on my blog lately and I’m not sure why. I want to be able to share my blankets with you, but I worry that I am boring you. Pinterest is sending a lot of visitors this way, for which I’m so grateful. So today, you will get the mish mash thoughts in my brain.
This LL Bean toboggan is awesome. We bought it for my husband one Christmas but it is a wonderful family gift. Our lovely neighbors had an amazing toboggan made out of some kind of rubberized material. It was longer than this one and we piled 7 or 8 people on it. It had a little flexibility to it. They let us borrow it any time we wanted, but when they passed away the toboggan moved along. The kids have so much fun with it on our backyard hill and when we take it to the bigger hills. It makes you feel completely out of control, however (something I really don’t like.)
We had a gorgeous weekend last weekend. It was cold and crisp with clear skies and no wind. We went out skating and sledding. We thought about having a winter party since we were not able to have one last year due to the mild temperatures. (You can see photos from our previous Winterfests
here and
here.) When you see how much work my husband puts into creating a beautiful setting, you will understand why we were simply too tired to pull it off. Also, we are hosting a party this weekend. I guess we are starting to show our age…
Annie did have some friends over, so my husband still put out luminaries and we got out to enjoy the beauty of the evening.
If you are wondering why my husband strung all that twine – it’s because the deer where getting into the rink and putting holes into the plastic.
So, feeling old, I returned to my queue of blankets. Susana, a sweet mom to four, asked for a
Hodge Podge style blanket. She wanted me to use articles of clothing from her kids. She sent these to me well before Christmas but very kindly assured me that my family came first. What a kind sentiment to share with me. I really took it to heart.
Making a blanket like this is always like putting a puzzle together. I start with a pattern that I design, but I still have to determine which size pieces I should use. I typically start with the largest shirts and the largest graphics and use those for the largest squares. I then take any special pieces that need to be sewn to other pieces of fabric. This included several pieces of hand smocking which I had to carefully cut.
Customers can leave me notes pinned to the clothing. The frog was on the bottom of a onesie. It’s helpful to have extra blankets, pillowcases and sheets. In this case, I decided to make the blanket as big as possibly, so I added a border made out of the extra pillowcases.
Susana wanted a nice, neutral fleece for the backing so she selected this “warm sand” color.
I can just imagine this on Susana’s sofa with one or two or four kids snuggled under it! I know it is filled with many memories!
What a beautiful blanket!!!! I also love those wintery pictures – the lights make it so soft and sweet.
I love reading your blog, Jane! It is far from boring! I look forward to your posts.
I got my blanket yesterday and cannot tell you how much I adore it. It is all I’d hoped it would be and so much more.
You have been such a pleasure from start to finish. You sincerely bless others’ lives through your work and I am so thankful our paths crossed.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this treasure for me.
Susana