Colorful

Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. -Pablo Picasso

In the summer of 2008 I bought some Minky Dot fabric on sale, planning to make robes for my kids for Christmas. As is the case, I ended up with too many projects and not enough time and so I postponed this project until LadyBug's birthday, in February of 2009. It is a tradition that will not die in our family to give a gift to the child whose birthday it is not on the other child's birthday and so I figured that matching robes might be fun for both of them. When I pulled the Minky out, though, I realized that I needed to line it with something, so I went in search of some flannel that I thought might do the trick. I was pleasantly surprised to find a colorful striped flannel that went well with the Minky -- and it was on sale! Click on any of the pictures for a closer look.




I got the robes put together and had the idea to make matching pajamas. I love to make pajamas! I had just enough of the striped flannel to use it for the tops, so I got some solid flannel for the sleeves and bottoms and got them put together. I cut it close getting them done. I shooed the Little Bugs to play in another room and finished putting the buttons on about an hour after they got home from school on LadyBug's birthday.



It's been almost a year and the sleeves are almost too short on their robes and the pajama pants are now floods, but they still wear them all the time. They love their "Robes of Many Colors," and I love to squeeze them while they are wearing them because they are so soft!


But the story doesn't end there. I had the scraps of Minky and striped flannel sitting in my cluttered office. I thought it might be fun to use them in a patchwork baby quilt, but who did I know that was worthy of receiving a handmade quilt? I found out that a dear friend was expecting her first baby in November of 2009. Better yet, I discovered that she was expecting a little boy. So I shopped the sales and went about collecting flannels that matched the Minky and striped fabrics left over from the robes. I had envisioned Minky on the back, but couldn't find any on sale (I LOVE to bargain shop) and so I bought a cute buggy flannel on sale that had the colors of the striped flannel in it. But when I laid out the blocks, the different patterns I had collected clashed horribly and so I had to pull out all of the prints and go with Minky, solid flannels, and the buggy flannel. All together, I spent less than $15 on the fabrics for the blocks for the top AND the quilt back. Did I mention I like to shop the sales? And the result was this fun patchwork "Buggy Quilt of Many Colors."


I had Ramona at Corn Wagon Quilt Co. quilt in an all-over stars and loops pattern and use a fluffier batting. I bound it with the last bits of the buggy flannel. It was SO soft and fluffy! I hated smashing it in the box to mail to my friend.

I still have the striped flannel blocks and a little bit of matching Minky -- enough to make a few blocks for another quilt. Who knows who might get a "Striped Quilt of Many Colors." I'd better start watching for Minky to go on sale.