Friday, August 10, 2007

The "Purse Dog" Wants to Share

The Purse Dog wants to share how to make her pretty fleece blanket with a longarm quilting machine: (Purse Dog's owner sews with a Gammill Classic.)

Needed: 2-1/2 yds each of 60'' wide premium anti-pill fleece in coordinating colors that you like. (no batting necessary for this project.) The "Purse Dog" likes this bright green fleece for the back and a cute Tinkerbell fleece for the top (available at The Fleece Lady. )

1. Rack up both panels of fabric horizontally, pinning the selvage edge top and bottom. This will minimize stretching...although you must still be careful while sewing so the fleece doesn't stretch too much.








2. Sew a horizontal line about 2 inches down from the top. If you have a 'horizontal channel lock'...that works best for this step.





3. Next sew a vertical line 2 inches from the left side about 12 inches down or so.








4. Do some free motions designs of your choice throughout the blanket, being careful not to stretch the fleece. The Purse Dog's owner chose some swirls, leaves and then just sewed around the pretty designs of the fleece print.





5. Sew another vertical line 2 inches from the edge on the right side. Only go about 12 inches down or so. (Note: The Purse Dog's owner doesn't have a vertical channel lock like some longarms have. She uses a ruler to help guide her.)





6. Keep quilting along until it's done. Continue sewing your vertical lines on the left and right as you go. Cute fleece print, don't you think? The Purse Dog thinks so!





7. Now it's all done and before you get to the bottom, just sew a horizontal line about 2 inches from the bottom edge.







8. Next take the fleece blanket off your longarm and trim all edges 2 inches all around, using your horizontal and vertical lines as a guide.




9. Cut a square in each corner.






10. Lastly, cut the fringes about in inch apart.

(The Purse Dog's owner just 'eyeballs' it, and she is very careful not to cut in too far. )

And here's the Purse Dog's fleece blanket. She loves it! Very comfy!

And her owner finished it in about 2 hours...start to finish...no batting...no binding....all done! (She doesn't even tie the fringe. She thinks it looks nice just the way it is.) Last Christmas the Purse Dog's owner made over 30 of these for her customers, friends and family. Fun and easy! Check out some of the others she has done below.

The Purse Dog's owner welcomes all questions and comments. Thanks for stopping by!


9 comments:

Randi said...

Hi Vivian! Found your blog through MQR! Aren't the fleece blankets fun? I gave one for a birthday gift shortly after I got my first longarm in 2004, and then I started getting orders for them pouring in. People love them. I get my fleece from Fleecelady, too. I just use 2 yd cuts, though. So snuggly! Your dog is a cutie.

Sarah said...

I love it! How fun...for you and your pup!

Anonymous said...

Lovely fleece blankets Vivian! Can you share what thread you uses to quilt your blankets?

cheers
Lizzy from Oz

Anonymous said...

Beautiful quilts - so much classier than just tying. Have you tried fleece on the back, a pieced top on the front?

Vivian Love said...

Reply to Lizzy from Oz:
I use A&E PermaCore Tex-30 in both the bobbin & top.

Reply to Betsy:
I have used 'minkie' fleece on the bottom of a quilt and cotton on the top. Came out nice. I'm sure any fleece on the back would work... as long as you use good quality fleece and take care not to stretch.

wtexPricklyPear said...

Hi Vivian,
This looks like a wonderful way to use fleece! I have a question -- do you put both layers on one roller or do you still use the front and back rollers to load the fleece.

I have 2 fleece projects that I would like to do asap (by Thanksgiving!) and I would greatly appreciate your assistance on this!

TY, eliza

Vivian Love said...

Reply to Eliza--
I roll one layer of fleece on the rollers like you're rolling on your backing fabric. The 2nd layer I lay on top of that, pin along the top, horizontally, and float the bottom of that 2nd layer. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for asking. Best of luck!
Vivian

Unknown said...

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Unknown said...

When i got my house by costa rica homes for sale i took all my document in my purse. Thanks God my purse was very big I had no problem. That´s why i prefer to use big bag every time. I really love it, because they are very comfortable.