this ain't mj's blankie

a good friend recently gave birth to her second son.
i'm gonna stop for a minute and tell you something--this girl was at work at 1:30 in the morning, having contractions so powerful they were almost bringing her to her knees.
her supervisor finally said "GO HOME!"
she went home, tried to sleep for a bit, and finally woke her husband and said it was time to head to the hospital.
they arrived at the hospital at 3:30 am, their little man arrived at 5:30 am.

yeah, so, i don't didn't really want my husband to know the details of this story. unfortunately, he already does. his reply?
"maybe you should go get a night job".

nothin' but sweet, that's what he is. (i kid...he's a perfect husband)

anyway, moving on....

i am not a quilter. not at all.

i don't do well with large unwieldy pieces of fabric that don't fit well through my machine. but since we found out we were expecting V (you know, as in #5...my ancient roman humor slays me) i felt the niggling urge to make a blanket for him/her.

and then dana @ made posted this tutorial on making a faux chenille blanket. PERFECT! i fell in love. it looks so soft and snuggly and cozy...and just right for someone who can pretty much sew a straight line (if she concentrates really, really hard) but is decidedly NOT a quilter.

so i decided to make one for my friend's baby, you know--as a trial run gift.

i used a super fuzzy and soft brown fabric. seriously, i think at joanne's it was called something like "super fuzzy and soft blanket fabric". i may be wrong about that though. then i appliqued his name on with an anti-pilling fleece.

lyle was named for his late grandfather, who (whom?) he never had the chance to meet. everytime my kids looked at the blanket they sang "lyle lyle crocodile".



the backing and binding were done in an adorable green flannel. it had brown drawings of different animals all over it--including crocodiles hehehe.

now, dana does her lines all in the same direction. however, i am easily bored/distracted/slightly ADD...so i started in the middle and sewed the lines to one end....and couldn't do the same thing the other way.
too monotonous for this momma.
so i turned it and ran the other lines perpendicular to the first set. 
personally, i really like the way it turned out.  

i washed and dryed it once, but explained to the mom that the more you wash & dry it, the more "ruffly" it becomes. (check out the photos of dana's blanket--super ruffled up)

i layered a brown polka dot, and just a plain white (both quilters cotton) under the flannel. they'll peek through more as it gets washed. even though those cottons are fairly thin, with all the layers this is a really nice weight blanket. feels really warm and cozy.

to go along with the blanket i made a little hat.
i used the dimensions and basic idea from martha's website (you know--THE martha) found here.

i did adjust the directions to make my contrast brim.

and can we just talk for a minute about HOW STINKING CUTE those sheepie buttons are? i have been drooling over  lusting wanting (ahem) to use them for so long now. but they're not exactly the kind of thing you can just throw on any old project.

and the ears???? oh boy. i die from the cuteness. i am a sucker for ears, and for sheepies. V's head may never see the light of day now that i've been introduced to the easiness of fleece hat sewing...

all together, a cute little combo. hoping little lyle lyle crocodile gets many uses from it!

i'll be linking up at some of these fine parties!! check 'em out for more great ideas!!!