4sq blanket no. 3

i did a big no-no on this gift: i took it to the shower not even started, just a pile of fabric tied up in a bow. i couldn't get myself over to the fabric store until the day before the shower and there just wasn't time to get it made. or even started. it's a running joke in our family how many times we got piles of folded fabric as a gift from my mom, with the attached promise that they'd turn into pajama pants or a dress or something similar. more often than not they stayed a pile of fabric. so i was completely embarrassed to take this to my s-i-l's baby shower even though there was also a real gift of diapers and burt's bees baby products included.

when i handed the package to carrie and explained it to her, she looked at me confused, replying, "i'm supposed to make it?" oh, heaven's no. i'm going to make it into a blanket, not you. ha! that was funny. even better was when my seester, jodee, was looking at the tied up triangles and squares and asked incredulously, "did somebody make this?" double ha! i'm not sure what she thought they were, but they definitely weren't complete.

two of my seesters, carrie, my mom and i at the shower.

i went home that night and started the blanket, getting the top complete. but i got stumped at the backing since i wanted to do an applique on it. there were cars on some of the fabrics and i had the lofty idea of making a road and copying two of the cars into applique form. really great idea, but because of it, the blanket sat untouched all through the holidays, three months past drextyn's birth. finally i gave in and nixed the applique idea for the sake of getting the blanket delivered while he was still a baby. however, i purchased more of the fabrics so maybe next time someone has a boy, i can get the applique on there.

i especially liked the bright, cheerful combination of colors in these fabrics. those dots! the compass-type print is darling, too.

the fabrics for the top were riley blakes. i thought the amy butler love dots flannel looked really cute with them. carrie did, too. she's a pretty stylish gal, so i was worried there weren't hip enough for her, but she keeps telling me she really loves the blanket.