Make It More Personal With Custom Blankets

If you're not sure what design you should use, take a trip down to the closest fabric store and take a look at their collection of baby quilt patterns. If it is your first attempt at quilting, remember to keep it simple. A lot of the time less is more. This may mean something like the sky with some white clouds. Many people decide on a patchwork design even for baby quilt patterns. Pink and blue are always appropriate colors for babies so you really can't go wrong with that. If you don't know the baby's gender, than white or yellow is a safe, neutral choice.

Clothes to use: Start with clean items. Besides the baby clothes you can use bibs, caps, socks, Halloween costumes, blankets, linens, special curtains and nursery items.

Quilt Blanket Women did then as they do now -- they got creative and sewed together the fabrics they had, including scraps. New quilt styles emerged that we recognize today and hold dear in our homes, or see exhibited in a gallery as art.

I cut the denim into 4 inch squares and lay them out on the floor until I get the look I want. If your are using child sized jeans you may want to make smaller squares or even alternate between a 4 inch square and one that is made of 4 squares, 2 inches wide. Be creative. Your quilt blocks can be triangles, diamonds or what ever shape you choose. It is your design so let your imagination run.

Cutting the clothing: Most of the articles should be ironed (without stretching it) to get an accurate cut. First take a scissor and cut out as much of the flat area of the article that you want to use on the quilt. Next lay this piece of material on your cutting board and cut out a square or rectangular piece. Then sort these pieces into same sized piles. Sew these similar sized pieces into a horizontal row (as wide as your quilt will be). Next put this row on your cutting board and trim the top and bottom edge so they are straight. Iron the seams open.

Never dry on high heat. Use low temperature to start the drying process then remove it from the dryer and lay it flat to finish drying. Once it is nearly dry, you can put it back in the dryer on low or air for a short time to fluff it up and finish drying.

Now that you have the 3 layers of your quilt, it is time to add a fabric border to frame your quilt. When choosing the fabric for the border, pick a color that compliments the colors and style of your quilt. Many online fabric retailers that offer pre-cut quilt squares also have complementary Jelly Rolls which are pre-cut fabric strips. These pre-cut fabric strips are perfect to use as your quilt fabric border.