a happy birthday gift...

in an effort to give handmade whenever possible, i fashioned up this pretty picnic blanket for my lovely friend nicole's 27th birthday. she's an outdoorsy kind of gal so i though she'd appreciate it. and it turned out beautifully, if i do say so myself. i'm making one for myself next, if ever i can find the time.



this is a simple, straightforward project well-suited to any beginner such as myself... the hardest part by far was picking and laying out the fabrics. to make the blanket, i used a wonderful tutorial that can be found here. it's written by a very creative blogger named erin at house on hill road. her addition of rock pockets, sewn on the reverse, are really clever and super cute. the blanket is nicely oversized, and can be backed with a full-sized flat sheet with good scrap to spare. i didn't get around to adding the buttons that are pictured on the tutorial--instead i designed a matching bag to tote the blanket around in. the folded blanket fit perfectly, with a little extra room for a few beachy things. i even added a pocket. ooh-la-la.



pictures of my completed blanket are below. and who would have thought we'd be able to use it to lounge around on the beach in mid-november? chalk it up to some birthday luck. good things are in store for someone this year!