I Spy Friday...and a tutorial!

I spy with my little eye...Mount Adams in the distance...can you see it? Baaarreeelly?? Right in the middle where the hills meet the sky...a pale white bump. Well, I do.
As promised, here's my super quick and easy baby blankets that I make for many new moms now, they've become my staple shower gift, along with nursing cover. They were made for me for my first born and they ended up being my FAVORITE blanket out of all the ones I received. Maybe it's because they were made just for me, maybe it's because they are the perfect size for almost everything you do with a newborn to toddler...I don't know.
What you'll need:
1 yard cotton fabric (like quilting cotton)
1 yard cotton flannel fabric
thread (matching or contrasting)
scissors
sewing machine

What you'll do:
1. Because it's a baby blanket, I prewash all fabrics. Just regular machine wash and dry. If they're too wrinkly, use an iron on cotton setting.
2. Place fabrics right side together, if desired, pin together. Sew 1/4" to 1/2" around edge, because of the prewash and shrinkage, they might not line up perfectly, especially along the long edge, the quilt cottons tend to be 2" longer than the flannels. Leave about an 8" opening on one side, but not at a corner.
3. Cut edges down and clip corners. Turn right side out.
4. Iron. I like to iron the edges flat, it makes the next step easier.
5. Sew a straight stitch either an 1/8" or 1/4" in all the way around the edge. This is both decorative and stitches the opening shut. Sometimes I'll also do a narrow zigzag at just the opening.
6. Pick a decorative stitch and practice size and width on a scrap piece of fabric. My sewing machine has a "stretch" setting that does a few stitches that appear more decorative on non-stretch fabrics. You can see the vine/feather looking stitch just below the monkeys head in the pic above. Once settings are established, sew all the way around about 4-5" in from the edge.
7. Sometimes I do a second round of straight stitch either just above or just below the decorative stitch, depends on my mood and really how much thread I have left. I also will change the top thread color and the bobbin color to match each side. You can match the fabric closely or pick a contrasting color to stand out, that's the great thing about this blanket, you don't have to match thread colors.
8. Fold, gift wrap, throw in a pair of baby shoes made from StardustShoes tutorial with matching fabric, give them all away, and enjoy watching someone receive the perfect sized baby blanket and baby shoes made with love!!