self-bound receiving blanket {idea and link}

I've got a couple of baby showers coming up quickly--I'm so glad to have this great idea (and a link to a great tutorial) from our friend Jennifer. I love these blankets!

Self-Bound Receiving Blanket

Now that Christmas is over and all cleaned up its time to turn my attention to the next big event in my life. I have two daughters expecting their first baby in March and its time to start making baby things. I was in Idaho in September with one of my daughters and we went to a wonderful craft/fabric store called Porter’s. They had so many beautiful flannel fabrics. My daughter didn’t know what kind of baby she was having, but she was sure that it was going to be a girl, so we bought cute girl things. The other daughter knew she was having a boy, so I also bought cute boy things. I even bought extra just in case. Well sure enough after their ultrasounds, both girls are having boys and I am glad that I bought extra.

I wanted to make a self bound receiving blanket for them. I really like the look of having the back fold over the front. The directions looked simple and I figured that it would only take about an hour. Boy was I wrong. The mitered corners were a lot trickier than I expected and I only had written directions, no pictures. After I spent the whole day working on it, it occurred to me to hunt for a tutorial. I found a great tutorial here.

First blanket – all day. Second blanket – just over and hour, but not quite perfect. Third time's the charm.

Just a couple of additional tips: *I prewashed my flannel because flannel shrinks. *My flannel dimensions were 40” back and 30” front, but you can make *My flannel was made by My Mind’s Eye for Riley Blake and perfect flannel for babies, soft and the perfect weight. *These receiving blankets are so much nicer than the single layer flannel ones that you buy.