Wednesday, October 15, 2008

WFMW: Blankets for Soldiers

Since the war in Iraq has started, I have spent every day praying. We have family members who are serving over there. One of my high school friends was killed in Fallujah in December two years ago. And now sweet Andy is recovering from a sniper wound as a result of the most deadly battle to date on Afghanistan. It is hard not to feel as if you wish you could do something more than "just pray".

When my friend, Conservative Belle, told me about the Blanket of Belief project, I knew that it was something I wanted to participate in. First of all, their goal was to help the soldiers. Second of all, their project involved a NO SEW blanket. Since I can't even sew a button I knew I had found a project I could handle.

First, let me tell you that in addition to the fact that I can't sew. I am a rebel. The very GOOD instructions said that you should make a template out of cardboard, mark the 1 inch segments so you know exactly where to cut and mark 4 inch squres in the corners to cut out as well. Me? I was too anxious to start the project to actually find a piece of cardboard so I just got out my measuring tape and eyeballed it. I know... hardheaded.
Once I cut out my blanket, there was some leftover so my boys wanted to know if they could make miniature blankets. I figured this would be a good way for me to practice the cutting. The boys had a ball tying blankets.
Big Guy working on his blanket while home sick from school from day. We enjoyed sitting and talking while tying on our blankets. My Little Guy loves his new little blanket. He uses it to cover up his "soft tailed baby". (The story behind "soft tailed baby" is another blog, but I'll just tell you that he is definitely another member of the family and he goes wherever we go.) I guess now this little blanket will go with us too.


Below you can see my finished blanket, despite my first attempt and lack of a template, it turned out pretty good. It wasn't until after I finished my blanket that I realized ONE MORE piece of instructions that I forget to read. It was supposed to be RED, WHITE and BLUE! Oh, well, Belle assures me that they will take it anyway. I enjoyed making this one that I am going to go buy more fleece to make another one.
Doing something for our amazing soldiers who are doing so much for us? That is what Works For Me!
You can join in too! Just follow this link and find out more about how to help the Soldiers' Angels meet their goal of sending 180,000 blankets to our troops for Christmas.

7 comments:

Dr. Wifey said...

the baseball theme is as American as red, white, and blue! i am SHOCKED that you cannot sew :)

Carrie said...

Oh noes! Your blanket is AWESOME anyway! I'm so glad they'll still take it!

I should have just done two no-sews. I swear I'm never going to even get started on the quilt! Aaaaaack!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Wifey--baseball is American so they'll appreciate it! And it is cute! What a great thing to do!

Miss Mud Puddle said...

I've done these before. They are fun to make!

Anonymous said...

I did these for family gifts at Christmas a few years ago and they all still use their blankets. My mom used hers literally until the day she died. It gave her great comfort.

God bless you for pointing out this wonderful project. So now I'm gonna horn in on it! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi! Followed the link from works for me wednesday. Just wanted to say my Fiancee just got back from Iraq, and on his way home at a stop in germany he was givin a beautiful hand made blanket. I don't think it was exactly like this one that you make, but it is still an amazing gesture, and you should know how great it made him feel!!! God Bless America!

Unknown said...

This is such a great idea! Thank you for sharing! And more imprortantly, thank you for making a difference for our soldiers! Your boys are blessed to have a mom like you : ).