Happy Birthday Baby Boy Part 1

My little boy, being related to his father, is a very tactile person.  When he likes how something feels he lays on it, walks on it after removing his socks, and drags it about the house.  A few months ago I went to my mother with an idea...as she is the sewing Goddess and I am but a sewing nightmare.  I wanted to make him a blanket (or more like a giant sit-upon) with all sorts of materials and feely things on it for his birthday.  She just loved it, right up until I told her how big it was going to be and that I expected her to sew it...she has a stigma about having a pattern and a clear plan with measurements first.  I blazed through, assuring her that we would figure it out as we went along.

So, using fun material from JoAnns, I just bought the fat quarters in the beginning, we started making "feel me blocks".

Here is our Frog Prince...kind of funky, but his toadstool is made from a sueded type of material.  Please know that I have no idea what kinds of materials most of these are, I just wandered about feeling things.

The stars on here are satin with little sparkly things stuck all over it...very fun to run your hand across.

 I lived in Las Vegas for 3 years while going to college...I know cactus, so I made him cactus out of glittery ribbon, rick rack, and lace.  The flowers are buttons and patches.

 A Prickly Pear...the fruit is quite good if you like picking hundreds of needles out of your body...and they have beautiful flowers.

 A barrel cactus...very pretty, but VERY dangerous.

These 2 pictures are of one long block, the hearts are felt and I sewed buttons upon them to feel and stand out.

My mother is the zipper lady of the world...she has more zippers in her possession than most material stores...we thought he would love feeling the zipper teeth.

 This was our first...and my first idea, it is just pieces of ribbon folded over and sewn on the edge to make a fun loop.  The ribbon was a lot of fun, as there is all kinds of colors and themes and just fun feeling ribbon too.

 Children LOVE blanket binding, especially the way it feels...I had to put one block in of this!

 Mom had some small quilted pieces, all we did was put them on the material.

 This was a leather skirt with snaps in the back...it is not just any leather either, this is lamb skin...the softest and most expensive.  The snaps will be fun for him as he grows...don't worry, I have tons of lamb skin skirts...although my poor mother cried when she cut it.

 The pumpkin is fleece...and the boy loves the orange!

 I cut the notes out of the lamb skin skirt as well, so they are really soft and fun to feel.

 Another of Mom's blocks...I sewed star buttons for the eyes!

 The boat is also fleece, but the red waves are some kind of fuzzy garland, I got it on clearance and he will LOVE it.

 I love buttons, and I have since I was a child...these are fleece button flaps that he can practice on as he gets older.

 This is a leather star, cow's hide this time, I thought it fit well with the rock and roll material!

This is a microfiber piece, that will be the center of the blanket, I used sparkly ribbon to make his name.

We have 2 blocks left to do and then we have to try and piece it all together.  I have a Cal-King flat sheet that we are going to use as the backing...it is silver satin!  I will post more as we progress.  This has been a lot of fun for me, as it is the first time that I have been able to collaborate with my mother on one of my art pieces.  I had the ideas, and she has the know how in order to make it all work.  Thank you to my mother, I don't know what I would do without you here!!