Bedding For Your Golden Retriever

Comfort Food: Exchange a bite of Mac and Cheese or Beef Stew (ok Bourguignon, you Julie and Julia Fans!) as a promise to nurture one another. Serve it at your reception. Have it on your buffets when you entertain during the fall, or have the annual mac and cheese (or whatever) party once you're married.

Another way to preserve memories is to make a memory quilt. A memory quilt can be a blanket or a wall hanging. You collect items of clothing as your child outgrows them. You cut the clothes into squares of the same size and save your collection until you have enough to make a blanket or wall-hanging. You can also use pieces of blankets or sheets. Be sure you cut a sample that is not worn thin. On blankets and sheets the outside edges are usually in the best shape. For clothing you would avoid the area covering the knees or the seat of the pants.

Design is the next step in the process of creating the perfect baby quilt. Different types of quilts require different materials in different amounts; therefore it is essential to have your quilt designed before you purchase materials. Another variable is time: patchwork quilts take a lot more time and dedication than tie quilts, and a crocheted quilt takes even more time than a patchwork. Quilters should be prepared for the amount of work they are going to dedicate to the quilt.

Dress up an old jacket or cardigan by heat bonding a block onto the center backside. Use fabric paint to trim out the edges of it or add an anti-fray product to the edges. If you are accustomed to sewing, add a zig zag or satin stitch to secure the edges and add a nice finish.

You can also get ahold of the grandparents to be and see if they have any clothes or blankets saved from the parents' childhood. If they do you could include these fabrics in the quilt for their child making it a multi-generational quilt, which will no doubt be a family heirloom.

Quilt Blanket Shirts would lose sleeves, front tabs and buttons; skirts, dresses and jeans would lose waistbands, pockets and zippers BUT you must save the buttons and zippers for another clothing project.

Now that you have completed the first go-around and shapes have been sewn to all five sides of the center piece, it is necessary to cut more angles from the pieces you have sewn down. Be brutal in cutting back, cutting from seam edge to seam edge, trying to achieve at least five more angles. Work toward a variety of shapes and sizes.

Applique: Adding a name to this baby clothes quilt can be done at this time by appliqueing the letters directly on top of the clothing or appliqueing the name on a strip of material and then sewing the strip between your rows.