Christmas Quilts

I have always enjoyed artsy craftsy projects, but sewing has never been one of my fortes. Many people have asked me if I sew and my response has always been, "I only sew buttons." Give me a needle and some thread and watch me stick a button back on a shirt. There have also been the occasional hems that needed fixing. For those, I either take them over to my mom to fix or do a hack job myself. And when I say hack job, I really do mean a serious hack job. I only fix hems that will not be visible.

In light of my sewing inexperience, you may wonder: Why did I decide to sew quilts for my girls for Christmas? There is just something about a nice, cozy flannel quilt. My husband and I have one on our bed and thoroughly enjoy it every winter.

Ayla's Quilt (Her favorite color is currently pink.)

Right now our girls share a loft full sized bed. At times they (ahem) need to be separated so that they will actually sleep at night. This is part of the reason our girls do not sleep in regular sheets and covers. They have a fitted sheet and then individual blankets. Mostly, they sleep with fleece blankets. The fact that they sleep with a purely synthetic fabric has bothered me for a while, but a few weeks ago my husband said that they needed better blankets. At that point, I made up my mind to make them quilts for Christmas.

I knew the basics and set out to buy twin sized flannel sheet sets to use for the fabric. (That was quite an adventure all by itself!) After finding a sheet set for each of them, I went to Joann Fabric and Crafts to find some flannel for the backing, yarn to use to tie the quilts and matching thread. (Yes, these are just tied together quilts. Nothing fancy here!)

Next stop: my mom's house. (No, I did not do this project all by myself.) At my mom's house we laid out the fabric, the cotton quilt batting my mom had, and the flat sheet. After pinning it in place, I sewed in the yarn and my mom followed behind, cutting and tying the yarn. Next, I cut off the extra batting and trimmed the fabric to the right size. Then I ironed over the edge of the fabric, getting it ready to sew.

Kylie's Quilt (Her favorite color is currently green.)

After folding over the fabric and pinning it in place, I headed to my mom's intimidating sewing machine. (Intimidating because of my lack of experience, not because of the sewing machine itself.) After my mom helped me get all set up, I started sewing away. Maybe sewing through two layers of flannel plus quilt batting wasn't the best beginners project, but I eventually got the hang of it. (Honestly, I was afraid I might give up in frustration and, in tears, ask my mom to finish for me.) Once the edges were finished, I sat back down with my mom and we pinned the corners. Lastly, I sewed the corners. Done! Yay! On to the next quilt.... (The second quilt went much quicker than the first one.)

Now, their Christmas presents are done. They are wrapped in boxes and under the tree. I can't wait to see their faces when they open the gifts. Hopefully, they love these blankets and use them for many years.

Now what to do with the leftover fabric...