Overcoming Mental Block Through Making Two Applique Quilts

A century ago, cigar companies tied a bright colored silk ribbon around a bundle of cigars. Women stitched them together with black or colored embroidery floss stitches onto a fabric foundation block. They were not cut or curved, but placed side by side. Cigar company ribbons had fancy logos and used attractive fonts in black ink on yellow or orange ribbons. The various advertising on the ribbons added decoration to the quilt block. Green, pink and purple ribbons were occasionally used in the block designs, signifying a rare cigar.

Blanket Quilt For making perfectly straight cuts, choose a thick, clear acrylic ruler. A good size to start with is a 6x24" rectangular ruler marked in 1/4" increments.

It is pretty to learn to sew quilt squares, you can do it by hand or with a machine. You can find an entire kit at the craft store that will provide you with the instructions, and all the material you need to make a square. Most of these kits you buy one square at a time, then put them all together. This makes quilting a little less overwhelming, since you only have to focus on getting one square at a time done. When it comes to the actual quilting of the blanket you can do it yourself or you can also pay someone else to do it for you. There are machines that make quilting very easy, but unless you are going to do a lot of quilting it might be more economical to have someone else do the quilting or do it by hand.

Don't be afraid to use your handmade quilt. The layers and the warmth of the batting make it perfect for keeping you warm cold winter nights. Even after many years of use, this author has several quilts that are still in excellent condition.

It won't take long and after you learn the basic skills you view to make just about any baby quilt patterns that you like. You'll become a real pro in no time. A really nice gesture is for several women in a family to contribute to the project. If you want to do this, simply photocopy the baby quilt patterns you are using and when the quilt is passed around, everyone will know what to do and you can even do this all living in different parts of the country. Then when each component is finished you can appoint someone to put them together.

When you store your handmade quilt in a closet or drawer, if you feel the need to wrap it up in something, use tissue paper rather than a plastic bag. Storing it in a plastic bag for a long period of time may result in yellowing and discoloration.

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.