DIY: Picnic Blanket

Henry performing his post-nap stretching routine on our favorite quilt

Sadly, this post is not a tutorial about how to make your own picnic blanket; it's a request for tutorials!

Henry and I are still following the routine I learned from Baby Wise: breastfeed, awake time, nap time approximately every three hours. During at least one of Henry's awake times, we love to spread a blanket out on the grass and just stare at the trees (well, Henry stares at the trees; I usually try to get in a little reading).

The problem is that our lovely blanket (a quilt I picked up at a flea market while I was doing the work study program at John C. Campbell Folk School during my self-subsidized sabbatical) is way too heavy. I can't maneuver Henry (although thankfully he came out of the womb with a surprising amount of head control--perhaps that's what he was working on those extra two weeks?), the heavy quilt, the door, and my book (I'm forced to leave my water bottle behind, which is terrible).

Yes, I could solve the problem by making two trips, but I am not a two-trip kind of person. Two trips out means two trips in, which quickly becomes four trips a day or twenty trips a week. Okay, I'm scaring myself with my mathematical efficiency analysis.

So I want to make an outdoor blanket. I'm thinking I should use oil cloth (or that other form of laminated cloth) for the bottom, so that grass and leaves won't stick to it. I'm not sure what to do on the top. Maybe something like flannel? I'd also like to make carrying straps, so I could fold it up and hang it on a doorknob for easy access.

Have any of you seen any good tutorials for picnic blankets?

After a quick search, here's what I was able to find:

• This Design*Sponge tutorial is nearly identical to what I was thinking! I could easily adapt it to add straps.
• This one from Centsational Girl uses a quilted top. I love that idea.

I think I will combine these ideas, unless you all have seen something better!

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