Summer of JoAnn Inspired Bandana Blanket!

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After seeing this children's quilting class in the Spring Catalog offered at my local JoAnn's...
I couldn't stop thinking about it, and had to make it!

Because it was a class offered, I had not directions to go from. But based on the image it looks like they cut each bandana on the diagonal and then pieced together. (They also trimmed the edges off)
Then, backed like a traditional quilt.

I've always wanted a summer blanket that will:

-fold up pretty small ( to store in the car) 

- be light weight

-wash easy

-be water resistant on bottom

-be cute!

In order to make mine to fufill my "wants" I had to do it a bit differently!

I picked up 9 bandanas, so that I could sew them 3 x 3.
Using the bandanas make the blanket light weight, and that makes it fold pretty small!

The red and blue bandanas screamed summer to me!

Each bandana is roughly 22" square, making my blanket 66" square.

When I got home, I prewashed them. And boy was I happy I did. I assumed the red would bleed but in the end, the blue bled. And bad.

So Once they were dry, I started playing with them trying to decide how to cut them.

 Originally I wanted to cut them into triangles but then realized that I would have to square the bandanas up first, because they were just a bit off here and there. And because I'm terrible at getting a perfect square... you can guess what happened!

That's when I decided to not cut into them.
And by not cutting into them I could skip backing it if I could figure out how to get flat seams.
That's when the idea of using a zig zag like they do for applique-ing.

Using my largest zig zag stitch, then half the length, I got to work! It took some time to get the pieces lined up to start, but then it was a breeze!  I went over each seam twice. I'm thinking about doing it maybe 2 more times so that I know they are really strong. And to make them look like applique more.

(Any tips on how to get the stitch closer together? When I tried to get it like an applique, it jammed up!)

Now, even though I originally wanted a summer "quilt" I decided, why back it with fabric to just get wet, which will then make it heavy when folding up to go home with.

 And that's where a vinyl tablecloth, and snaps come in to play!

Put your vinyl tablecloth vinyl side down, with your your blanket on top and line up your snaps. 

Now, your blanket (and bottom!) won't get wet from the damp grass!

I love how a simple children's sewing project evolved into the perfect picnic blanket that will fit our family's needs! Now, the rain needs to go away so we can enjoy our new summer picnic blanket!

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