Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Minkee Baby Blanket

A friend just had a baby, and I was trying to think of a gift to make that would honor her special occasion.
I wanted the gift to be personal, but because of time constraints I knew I needed something easy to make.

Quilted Works here in St. George, Utah had the perfect solution.
They have the most delightful selections of minkee I have ever seen. A room full of the most soft and snugly designs available on the market.
You just can't help but ooh and aaah and sigh just by touching it.
Makes grown men want to wrap themselves in fabric and take a nap right then and there.
But I digress...

The bolts of Minkee come in 60" wide. Quilted Works makes a baby kit by cutting a yard, and then cutting that yard in half lengthwise. (Making a 30" X 36" piece) They match a cute front to a cute back, and a kit is born.
The only work left to do is:
  • Put right sides together, and sew a seam all the way around leaving a small space for turning.
  • Turn and then stitch all around the edges.
  • Voila! You are done!
  • (yes, it's that easy)

Here are some tips that Quilted Works gave me for working with Minkee:
  • When you first bring the fabric home, throw it in the dryer for about 10 minutes on FLUFF (no heat). This will help remove all those pesky little shreddy pieces.
  • Set your stitch length to be a little longer, around a "3"
  • Use a walking foot.
  • Pin like crazy. This stuff is very slippery. Placing pins close together will make a big difference in the keeping the two pieces evenly together.

8 comments:

Lois Evensen said...

Ahh, a very, very, very sweet little blanket. :)

Material Mary said...

Great tips. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to make some someday!!
Mary

Mary Grace McNamara said...

What a lucky little baby to have such a cozy blanket! Great advice on handling this fabric too! Thanks for sharing it!

MGM

Needled Mom said...

Soo cute and I know how great it feels. Several of our grands have become very close to their Minkee blankets.

Kim's Treasures said...

Adorable! I wish we had a store like that around here!

Shannon said...

Very cute Nedra. I have a pile of minkee I need to get to. Our baby boy will be here before you know it and Grandma isn't ready. Maybe this post will get me going on those. Great tips.

Carol said...

That is so cute and cuddly. Great tips...thank you. I've never used Minkee because I always thought it would be so slippery...your tips will sure help.

Sherrill said...

I made both my nephews quilts like that and they still carry em around everywhere (they're now 4 & 5!! LOL). Last Christmas, I made em each bigger quilts with minkee on both sides--would NOT recommend that to anyone! Was sayin' words I don't normally use!!! HAHA