Baby Blankets Make Great Baby Shower Gifts

This caused most families to start saving bits and pieces of scrap material. It was not uncommon to see bins of random materials scattered in small piles of the early colonial homes as they hoped to gather enough to eventually construct a quilt.

Blanket Quilt Wedding Blanket: From Africa to the Philippines, couples are wrapped in a blanket that is to be their marriage coverlet. Include this warm ritual in your wedding. Let friends with marriages you admire wrap you in the blanket. Does anyone in your life quilt? If so they'll need a LOT of forewarning! Use the quilt on your bed, or keep it on the couch for when you snuggle.

The type of fabric in your baby quilt top will also determine the type of quilting design you should choose. Large or busy prints require a simpler design quilt top. On the solid colors or tone-on-tones, a decorative featured wreath or floral motif is perfect to show off that baby quilt.

Set your sewing machine to the standard seam allowance used for quilts, which is an exact quarter inch seam. One way to improve a block that is either too large or too small is to use the freezer paper method and square up the block before sewing it together. Gridded freezer paper makes the job easier, but the plain freezer paper will work to help make the block more even.

Now use a steam iron to turn and press the rectangle over the seam allowance, pressing away from the center piece. Trim the seam allowance close to the stitching line to remove the bulk in your design.

Always wash your handmade quilt in warm or cold water using the delicate cycle on your washing machine. The individual blocks may be made up of slightly different fabrics which will shrink differently. Also, the vibrant colors may fade over time from hot water.

If you aren't a crafty person, don't worry about it. Buying a beautiful baby blanket can be just as special. No one says you have to spend a lot of money for something to be from the heart. The same goes for crafts. Not everyone is artistic and crafty. If you don't have to knack for crafts, use your talent of choosing a beautiful blanket. Think about it, wouldn't you rather have your child get a beautiful blanket that they purchased than a 5 inch lopsided crocheted blanket?