Beach/Picnic Blanket Makeover

You know how some blankets are soft and comfy, or sturdy and comfy and perfect for picnics and days at the beach except for all the grass and sand that stick to the back side of them?  Well this is an inexpensive and pretty easy solution to that problem.

You will need:

Your favorite picnic/beach blanket and

A fabric shower curtain liner (not the plastic kind-make sure it is fabric).  I got mine at Walmart for $9.00.  There are tons of super cute printed ones for more money-so if you are going to sew your own quilt then you could use one of those for the back or maybe you can find one that matches a quilt you already have made.

I spread the shower curtain out and then laid my blanket on top of it.

I cut the shower curtain down so that it was about 1 1/2" larger than the quilt.

Next I pinned around the outer edge of the blanket to hold the two pieces together.

I also pinned in a diagonal across the middle to form a large X through the quilt.  This is marking where I am going to sew to hold the backing in place.

Then I sewed to create an X through the quilt to hold the backing on (so that you don't slip around when you sit on the blanket).  Then I folded the shower curtain edges twice all the way around the quilt and pinned.  I sewed along each edge to catch the shower curtain backing.  (NOTE: I didn't measure or iron or any of the perfectionist type stuff so mine ended up with many folds-but it is for sitting on-so I am not too concerned...and I am not going to show you any of those pictures.  Just sayin, in case you are making one and it is not perfect either.  It happens).
Now here is my quilt top

and here is the back.

After adding the backing I decided I wanted to add carrying handles.  To do this I first folded my quilt as will be shown in the next photos.  Then I knew exactly where I wanted to attach my handles.

Start with quilt open, right side down.

Fold in half.

Fold in half again.

Now fold in half width wise.

And one more time.  See where you would put the handles).  I cut 2 15" pieces of this stuff (I am sorry but I can't for the life of me think of what it's name is right now).

Now your quilt is super handy to carry.  I love this so much I am going to add handles to all my outdoor quilts.