Make It More Personal With Custom Blankets

In the early days of quilting, any suitable material, from an old blanket to cotton wadding, was placed between the patched pieces and an old sheet and then put onto the quilting frame, which kept the quilt's layers stretched tight while the quilter worked away.

Blanket 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.

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.

If the boys are fond of video games, they can choose those with a Star Wars print. They may also have their quilts in checkered designs where the checks are patterned from a chess board or checkers and even monopoly. Or they could simply have prints of their favorite animals.

Double-Sided Bias Tape. You'll use this to make the trim. There are other ways to do it, but this is one of the easiest, and will give your baby quilt a nice, finished look. Try to pick bias tape that compliments the fabric. For example, if your fabric has a pattern, pick one color in the pattern and choose bias tape to match. If you want the bias tape to sort of blend in, try to match the fabric's background color.

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.

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.