Once upon a quilt

To start, I'll tell you I'm by no means a "real" quilter...I've taken and learnt bits off the Internet and I don't follow (or even know) the rules about proper quilt making. Don't get me wrong, I admire real quilters and their beautiful craft but I'm not claiming to be one of them.

So now that's out of the way, I guess you could say what I do is...make blankets with squares - but I'm not changing the title as "Once upon a blanket made of squares" doesn't quite have the same ring.

I've always fancied the idea of having a picnic blanket, but the ones that you can buy all seem far too small...and so the crafty idea to make one came about.

I searched Internet sites madly hunting down some  instructions and found this> Summer Sewing - Picnic Blanket with Rock Pockets . The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow and  with the pictures you can't go wrong. How can you resist having a picnic blanket with rock pockets?

I made mine slightly bigger, with each square measuring 51cm and the backing material square was just over 2 m. It can have 4 people sitting very comfortably.



Even birds like picnic blankets. This bird dropped in to have a look around during one of our picnics, perhaps he liked the colour scheme...

When you make your picnic blanket, here are a few things to remember;   

 

When choosing your materials it's a good idea to go with a theme; the options are endless, but a few examples would be the seasons, the ocean, your favourite colour...I went with an earthy theme, but saw the button fabric and could not help myself - oh well

 

Always wash your materials before you begin your project, to allow for shrinkage (wash dark colours separately to avoid cross-contamination of the colours) .

 

Play around with your design to find one that is pleasing to the eye.   

 

Iron all your seams flat - it makes the sewing up much easier and looks neater too



 

Though the task of sewing it all together may seem daunting - don't give up...the end result will be worth it



 

Provided that you use washable batting, and secure it in place across the blanket to prevent the batting from shifting inside the fabric, you should be able to machine wash it (ours has been washed several times...picnic  food and drinks have an affinity for picnic blankets no matter how hard you try)

Hope you have fun making your own picnic blanket. I'd love to see pics if you do.

I'd best be going as I have a gecko in my head demanding that he be given a body of his own.