Photo Blanket for Taleah

Once we found out that Taleah's cancer came back, 

I immediately got to work on making a blanket for her. 

I knew I wanted to add pictures of her family on it so she would feel their comfort 

even when they weren't able to be with her at Primary Children's. 

Tyson was sweet enough to spend a Friday night at Jo-Ann's Fabric Store 

with me, picking out the materials I needed. 

I don't think he minded as much this time though, since it was all for Taleah. 

Although Taleah is only 5 years old, she's always had such a mature personality 

and I wanted the blanket to reflect that about her. 

I love how soft minky is, so a mature gray minky was my first selection.  

The leopard print caught my eye immediately because I think it's sassy; just like Taleah :) 

I chose the chevron because I love the pattern for children's bedding. 

Then the coral/pink pattern just seemed like the perfect girly touch. 

The solid yellow was to calm down the busyness of the patterns and to be a background for the photos. 

I have never printed on fabric before but it was so easy 

and I know i'll be using it on another project one day. 

The print-on fabric can be found next to the sewing machines at Jo-Ann's. 

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I used the same pattern for this blanket as I did with the baby blanket I made 

for my friend's baby shower as well as the breast cancer auction blanket I made. 

The directions are so easy to follow and the final result is so cute! 

I measured and cut the minkie, then cut out all of the squares. 

I then rearranged the squares until I found a pattern I liked. 

Then came all the sewing. 

Quilt patterns are not my favorite. 

There are so many little pieces to sew together 

so the chances of making a mistake are higher. 

I had one mistake where I sewed the wrong rows together, 

but I was able to quickly unstitch the row and fix my mistake. 

Once the squares were sewn together, and I trimmed the gray and quilt squares 

to the correct measurements, I then proceeded to make the photos pieces. 

I found my 5 favorite pictures of Taleah and her family and printed them to the fabric. 

The paper goes in your printer like regular paper and it's so easy. 

The directions were very easy to understand and the pieces came out beautifully.
Once the fabric photos were dry, 

I cut them to size, and zig-zag stitched them to the yellow squares. 

I found it easiest to tape down the photo fabric with masking tape; 

don't use needles as it will poke holes in the fabric.

Once I had all 5 photos sewn on, it was time to sew the quilt squares to the minky 

and voila! 

I love the way it turned out! 

We were lucky enough to get to take it up to Primary Children's that same day and see Taleah. 

She was having a rough first week and was pretty tired. 

We didn't actually get to talk to her because she was sleeping, 

but it was a lot of fun getting to talk with Tosha, Scott, and Tyson's other cousin Tavia. 

What an amazing little family they have. 

I'm constantly amazed at the strength they have and how much support they have 

from their family to take care of the twins and Slade when Tosha & Scott can't be with them. 

Tosha is really good at keeping Taleah's blog updated so feel free to stay updated there 

on Taleah's progress. 

Tosha is a wonderful writer and has been great at creating the real, sometimes painful 

picture for what's going on day to day. 

As I mentioned before, you can follow along on the blog and even donate 

to help with Taleah's medical bills. 

This is the best link if you can help. 

Together for Taleah donations

I love when I see pictures of Taleah wrapped in the blanket. 

Seeing her enveloped with the love of her family 

makes me feel blessed to have been able to give that gift to her. 

We love the Stevenson family so much and continue to pray for them 

and keep Taleah in our thoughts.