Our second niece came into the world early Friday morning. We were very excited to hear the news. She was a week early. Luckily I had gone out Thursday to pick up fabric for the blanket I planned to make her.

I started with this version from how does she? for the main blanket assembly, this idea of the ninja appliqué from {adorkable}duo for the birds, and a lot of pre planning to work it all together. Several trips to the fabric and sewing stores for supplies later, it evolved into what you see here. I was really inspired by the pattern on the fabric and I’m happy with how it all turned out. I hope my niece does too.

The fabrics I used.

I used wax paper to make the bird patterns.

Arranging the birds in several combinations.

After ironing on the interfacing I then added batting.

I satin stitched around the birds, and once I assembled the backing to the blanket, I stitched around again using a regular stitch. I wanted the birds to stand out, but I was afraid they would be to heavy and shift the two layers around too much, losing its shape.

The underside.

Finishing the edge.

My ginormous tag. I really didn’t mean for it to turn out so big.

The completed blanket.

I’m excited to see the baby tomorrow and hope she will get a lot of use out of my gift.