Emma's picnic blanket

For some reason, not matter WHAT I tried to do to get this stupid photo to upload to the blog in the vertical manner in which it was taken, it ends up like this. Honest to God, I don't understand it and have been sprouting gray hairs for the last 15 minutes trying to figure it out. I've rotated it using other programs, saved it that way and it doesn't seem to matter, it still comes back to haunt me lying horizontally. Maybe it's sleepy.

UGH....anyway, this is a picture of a picnic blanket I am making for Emma. I have been promising to make her one for months now and since it's spring and picnic season is getting close (if the snow ever stops falling) I decided to start it. We go on LOTS of picnics in warmer months of the year. I actually had ordered a gingham checkered table cloth, thinking that we could just use that, but I decided I wanted something a little fluffier. I figured I was going to have to buy batting but imagine my delight when I stumbled across pre-quilted fabric! I mean, it's got the batting in it and everything! So all I had to do was sew the checkered fabric to the quilted fabric and done!

I am by no means a good sewer. I know the basics, I can stitch stuff and use a sewing machine but I've never bothered learning to read a pattern. And my lack of patience and the need to finish what I start no matter if it takes me 5 minutes or 12 hours, make my end results a lot less than perfect. But that's ok. This is just a kid's picnic blanket that will get all dirty outside anyway. The fact that I don't read patterns really makes things interesting sometimes. I have NO idea what I'm doing, I just sort of wing it and do what I think will work.

So all I have left to do is finish up the corner with a little hand stitching. At the fabric store the lady who was helping me asked if I was planning on making a picnic basket too. And I said that I was nowhere near that talented. She said "but sometimes we surprise ourselves". I thought that was very wise. Maybe I will attempt a picnic basket out of the left over fabric.