Making Baby Gifts

As you know, we have all been thinking about babies around here.  With two new babies joining our family this summer, I have been making receiving blankets lately.  There have been a total of six works in progress here lately.  A couple of weeks ago I got the house ready because the nieces, daughter, and daughter-in-law hosted a shower here for our daughter-in-law, Bonnie.

The first one expected this summer is little Levi.  His father, Stephen, is a big fan of The University of Tennessee football.  So, I knew I had to honor that and encourage this new little member of the family to have blood that runs orange.  This was the beginning effort...

Footballs and Big Orange

I bought a cotton print that had footballs all over it and backed it with some soft orange and white gingham.  Orange rick-rack formed the edge and I had Bridgette use her embroidery machine to personalize it with orange thread.  I gave her the left-over fabrics and she created burp cloths as a companion gifts.  I added a bit to it to finish out the gift - more on that later.

The next little blanket plays up to his country roots.  We are farm folk.  His mother has horses, his father has goats, his grandfather and I were raised with cattle, and we all have a soft spot for a pup.  So, the first fabric I picked was one that looked sort of like an all-over bandana with red background and black and white paisley print all over.

Country is always cool!

I found a companion cotton flannel that had a cute little bear riding a stick horse wearing denim jeans and a hat and a pup with a bandana around its neck.  I edged it with black rick-rack.  Bridgette added a denim patch with his monogram - first and middle initial stacked next to his last one.

The third blanket is all baby.  His nursery is painted a soft baby blue.  Mom and Dad have added white furniture and decorative stars.  So, for this blanket, I found a soft cloudy blue fabric scattered with white stars.

Baby Boy Blue and White

I backed it with a blue-and-white Oxford striped cotton flannel and edged it with simple white rick-rack.  Bridgette added his name in a large blue font.  It looks so sweet and seems like it will send the little fellow right off to dreamland.

I'm still working on some blankets for little Luci and I will share photos from the shower in a later post!