Chenille Throw/Blanket

 I don't remember when and how exactly I found this type of quilt. It was a while ago though. I saw it made as a baby blanket and the technique and final result just drew me to it. The texture of this comes out even nicer than the pictures. It has soft and plus feel to it. I decided to make a throw out of this and the result was awesome. I miscalculated length though, so it is little shorter in height and better as lap blanket or blanket to be used when legs are folded :) We sent that one to India so that my in-laws could enjoy its warmth especially since they are a lot sensitive to cold. Much to our amusement, Ma has kept it in cupboard since she doesn't want it to get dirty :)

 

Given that the result was so good, I was looking forward to making more of these. This time I found the awesome lama print fabric in Joann and made this for friend's kid. Just couple of days ago we received message telling us about how much that kid is enjoying it.

 

Here is list of material used for throw and blanket.

Material	For Throw	For Blanket
1 Main Print Cotton Fabric	2.25 yard	1.25 yard
3 Coordinating Cotton Flannel Fabrics	2.25 yard	1.25 yard
Fabric for binding preferably cotton	0.75 yard	3/8 yard
Cotton Thread (All-purpose/Quilting), preferably of color that works with the main print. It wont be visible on the flannel side	1000yard	500 yard

 

Note that for the throw shown in the blanket I used 1.75 yard fabric and it is short. The current one that I am working on uses the above measurement and seems like better size for the throw. Also all my fabrics were 44 inch wide.

 

The process of making this is quite simple and I think makes excellent project for beginners given how easy it is.

• Lay the flannel fabrics on top of each other. Lay the main fabric on top of it with its wrong side facing the flannel fabrics and pin these layers together.
• Mark diagonal line on the flannel side. If making blanket its just a line joining the opposite side corners. If making a throw (since it would be rectangle), mark on the length wise side at with the size of its width. I did this by folding on the diagonal such that the other corner is folded onto the length wise edge, mark that point and join this marked point and the folded corner to get the diagonal. Using the walking foot, make a stitch on this marked line.
• After this point stitching would continue on the print side. Stitch all across the fabrics parallel to this stitched line using this and successor lines as guide and 1/2 inch distance between each line. This takes a while. Walking foot is not a must have but it makes life easier and stitching quality is better too because of its dual feeding nature.

• After the stitching is complete fun part starts. Use either chenille cutter or scissors to cut through all the flannel layers. Chenille cutter makes life easier and simpler. It is also safer because it avoid cutting into main fabric by mistake. I have bought it from here.

• At this point bind the throw/blanket from all the sides. I use machine on both the sides.

• Admire your work :) Its almost done. Wash and dry the throw/blanket and its all ready as flannel will fray to create that soft and lush chenille side. The diagonal stitching makes that work so it is important that the stitching is done on diagonal rather that vertical or horizontal.