A New Baby Nephew and a New Baby Blanket

The younger of my two sisters recently had a baby. He’s adorable and tiny and so far I’ve really only seen him and sleep and squirm a bit. When I hold him, it’s like holding a football. He just curls up like a little pillbug and sits in the crook of your arm.

When my other sister had her second baby, I made him a baby blanket. I thought I’d do the same this time around but up the ante a bit. The blanket is a quilted state of Ohio against a green background with white, satin trim. For the state of Ohio, I pieced together pieces of clothing from my nephews great-grandmas, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

I did not include anything from his canine sister’s extensive wardrobe, which has left some bad blood between Roxy and I. See how she’s glaring at me???

I honestly did think of her but wanted to keep the extended family fabric donation a secret so didn’t know how to subtly ask for some dogs clothing.

Everything else worked out okay though! I figured out how to incorporate some stretch knit from onesies so cousins could be represented. I made it so the word “Love” from one cousin’s outfit was right over Columbus, where my brother-in-law’s side of the family is from. I tried to make the Cincinnati Reds logo fall over Cincinnati but it ended up over Dayton. I successfully placed green over Athens, Ohio, for some subtle Ohio University pride.

I struggle when I do a craft to see beyond my mistakes. For instance, the way I quilted means that things got squished a bit and Ohio is a little skinnier than it should be. My rows of quilting are pretty straight, but by no means perfect. Adding the satin trim is always a struggle and I’m never truly satisfied with how it looks, but by that point I am so tired that I just let it go.

When I do get past all the little mistakes, I am proud. Through what is basically no more than millions of little knots of thread, I have created a blanket that will hopefully last a long time and represent all of the love that my nephew will have in his life from all of his extended family.

I asked my sister for some pictures of my nephew with the blanket. She hooked me up!