The no sew blanket for the K9 wife who can't sew

I am so excited about my project today! The no sew fleece blanket! I have seen them and did not realize they involved no sewing! Just cutting and tying. Hey- I can do that!
I found the best directions here, she posts great pictures which helped me to visualize what I was doing. Oh and FYI-these are selling for up to $40 on ebay. I'm not kidding!
We bought our fleece, Officer K9 and I that is, at Joanns. It was on sale for half price. We got 1 yard of each color and paid well under $10. I forget exact amount. Everything else I had around the house already. I will post my pictures as I worked and give a few tips that helped this very non-crafty K9 wife make the cutest, softest blankie for Baby K9.
1. We found 2 fabrics which we felt complemented each other, a print and a solid.
2. There does not seem to be any table wide enough for this in our home so I squatted my 38 week pregnant bum on the floor and got to work, with many breaks in between. It was good, I got to practice some labor positions and work on my pelvic rocks.
3. Wear comfortable clothing.
So off we went on a no sew adventure for the crafty challenged.
Now, I must interrupt here to give a suggestion. I wish I had asked the nice lady at Joanns to cut the fabrics so they matched up nicely. I am straight line challenged as well and when these didn't match up and I had to cut them, well one side ended up bowed and very short. This caused me grief as I tied the side together, I ended up with short stubby fringes. Oh well, *sigh.
Back to the blankie!
A. I cut a piece of paper in the 4x4 square suggested by All Kinds of baby stuff.
. I used tape to tape the paper down as I cut each corner. Not a necessary step but one I found helpful. Other bloggers suggested pinning fabric together as you work, I didn't find this necessary and the fleece stayed together pretty well. The beauty of this blankie is that it doesn't have to be perfectly even! I promise no one will ever know but you! Wait-you may the person that this would bother, but really in the end you hardly can tell. My short, stubby side, only visible to me!

B. Okay, I tried her board on the 4 inch line for cutting and it didn't work for me. I didn't have any special fabric scissors and the ones I had weren't super sharp so I needed a bit extra space to ensure a 4 inch cut. I instead, put the mega ruler Officer K9 provided me with on the edge and used a folder at the 4 inch line. This enabled me to cut right down to 4 inches and I could cut the folder a bit to make sure I got it right. Now I didn't realize until the end what a difference the 4 inches makes. Alot easier to tie at 4 inches! Also, the 1 inch width, important too. Again, alot easier to tie! My first few were over an inch and very hard to tie together. The ruler didn't help me much, I did better when I eyeballed it.
The cutting the fringes were probably the most difficult part of this, just because they were time consuming! Maybe it just felt that way because I am 38 weeks pregnant sitting on the floor! Oops!
Now time to tie!
Wait a minute! Apparently my cat approves of the blankie! Oh boy, this could spell trouble in a few weeks.

C. So here is what my ties looked like. Now she recommended an over hand tie. I have no idea if that is what I did but I was happy with my results. I was a bit anal that they all go same way, so the first edge took a bit to get in a rhythm. Once I had it down though, this went super fast! Don't forget to skip every other one. Now, tying the reverse side was tricky, it's easy to skip one because the front side is already done.

Now, I had to interrupt my work to taste the delicious deviled eggs Officer K9 made! Yum, he makes the best! He especially loves making them with my fancy decorator tool from Pampered chef!

And the taste....yum yum!

Okay, back to work. I was soon done with both sides and the finished product....drum roll please!




I think it's adorable, especially for my first time making it and for someone so not craft oriented! It truly was easy, so don't go spend $40 at Joanns! Make it yourself. It took me about 2 hours, but I took many breaks!
Oh, one last tip, I took her advice and double knotted. Just make sure the knots aren't super tight close to the fabric or it will cause bunching.

I leave you with our final project for Baby K9's room. Officer K9 finished painting this today, a bookcase for the babies room, along with a hat rack and I added these wooden pieces. The other side has a hippo, alligator and a tree. Cute Cute!


We anxiously await his arrival, as it really will be any day now, according to my awesome midwife! Pray for us as we embark on a new role God has chosen us for!
I must share one last thing, my great verse today when I opened my computer. Love this! Love Jesus!
1Samuel 2:2
"There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God."