“It’s like the minkee throw,” is a running joke in our family. A couple of years ago, tired of Chicago’s long and cold winters, I said that I was going to make the warmest possible throw and back it with Minkee. Bill looked as if I had just said, “I think I’m going to get that cool Mike Tyson face tattoo around my eyes.” He then started telling me how Minkee was synthetic and would look bad with the great quality of fabric that we use. I told him that I’d be willing to compromise my purist standards to have warm feet when I was reading, working on my laptop on the sofa or watching a movie. “Fine,” he said. “It’s all yours.”
Once I made the darn thing, he couldn’t get enough of it. It’s so soft and warm. It’s hot chocolate in textile form. Minkee comes in 55″ widths and we made the throw about 75″x50″ so we ended up with leftover strips that were too small to do much with but too soft and long to toss. We’ve used Minkee scraps for scarves, which feels so great around your neck but we’ve tried to figure out some other projects as well.
I recently made a wedding gift with some gray Minkee that was a huge hit and ended up with more scraps. Bill, who has since come to worship at the Minkee altar, couldn’t resist the urge to make our 14-year-old cat Mies a reversible Minkee cat bed. It’s the perfect cat bed because it’s portable, washable, soft and and warm for a geriatric pet.
For the cat bed he pieced together 2 sets of 3 scraps 5″ x 15″ to get a top and bottom that’s 15″ square. Sew the right sides together on 3 sides, turn it inside out, topstitch closed the last side and you have a cat bed in about 10 minutes. A little catnip, a little Minkee and we have one cozy cat.
craftnectar.com 
I love Minkee. Working with it not so much but worth the PITA it is. All my baby quilts are backed with Minkee. Wedding gift? No picture?
Jackie,
We make so many things as gifts that we don’t photograph them all. The recipients have a lot of black and white and red in their home so it was a black tone-on-tone cotton on one side, gray Minkee on the other and dark red solid binding. We long-armed it with contrasting red thread per their request and the couple loved it and said that it looks great on their black leather sofa.
Great similes!!!
I do love Minkee. What wonderful stuff.
I just thought I’d give you a heads up that this week is Fabric Giveaway Week on the Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog! I’m going to be giving away a bit of fabric each day this week, so be sure to come by & enter! Here’s a link to today’s giveaway:
http://fluffyland.com/blog/index.php/2011/cart-full-of-fabric-giveaway-week/
My LQS sold some stuff that I think is only “like” Mikee because it is fluffy on both sides. I used one piece as the backing of a quilt, the other I just bound!
(The third, I am going to applique squares onto it ALA the Corduroy quilt in the book “Corduroy” by D. Freeman. Eventually…)
I love minkee, too, but my work area looks like a muppet crime scene after a project. Finally learned to use masking tape on the cut edge immediately after rotary cutting it (before even moving it); that seems to keep the fuzz at bay.
Your cat looks cozy. I need to make myself a minkee throw, too.
Oh I love this kitty! I must try to make this cat bed!!
Oh, I feel so much better now!!!!I made my Gemma a lttle quilt backed with minkee. She loves it. It is so cozy. I was cringing when I used it to back the patchwork that I’d made. But now, my son, Max, wants a quilt with the “soft bumpy stuff on the back like Gemma’s.” And I am doing it for him. Of course!
Happy new house, by the way!
I am half way through a minkee throw for myself! I love the fabric so much I am gathering fabric for two small blankets for my niece and nephew also. It was great to see you at the Madison show and so nice to meet Bill. I look forward to your next visit to the Oshkosh show! I can’t wait to see class you might have planned. ( I am the daughter of the mother and daughter group from Oshkosh).
Hi Karen! I remember you! I’m glad that you’re having fun with Minkee. It will keep you toasty all winter! Hope to see you in Oshkosh in March.