Things Your Baby Does Not Need
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.
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.
Another way to make a memory quilt is to use all new fabric with a different approach. You could make each square a representation of some part or event of a child's life. Each square would be embellished by applique, embroidery, scanned pictures, iron-on letters, fabric paint or whatever you like. You could ask important people from the child's life to contribute a square or two and to sign their square with their name.
We have taken our family on many picnics. These picnics are not complete without a quilt, to cuddle on after we have our meal. We have recently bought a Jeep and we always have a quilt with us in the Jeep as we go on outings. We tend to use heavier quilts for these outings because of the sturdy sewing and materials that are used, the quilt will not show the wear of outdoors as easily.
Blanket Quilt Be especially careful not to store your quilt in a place where there could be a problem with bugs or unwanted visitors that would like to eat away at it. Some brands of fabric softener sheets have been credited with repelling these unwanted critters. In addition, the fabric softener sheet will keep it smelling fresh. A cedar chest is an ideal storage place for your handmade quilt.
Make pillows. Single blocks are the perfect sice to create toss pillows for your sofa, loveseat or chairs. Make pillow shams for your bed by stitching several together to fit your pillows.
Just roll the blankets up into tight rolls. Then place them in a circle on something solid. Do this for two or three tiers. You can tie them in place with pretty ribbon. Then add some rattles, baby toys tied to the "cake". It makes an adorable and useful baby blanket gift. To keep this gift in a reasonable price range you can get soft fleece blankets really cheap at a dollar store.
Creating any type of quilt requires planning and arranging items in the perfect order. While baby quilts can range in complexity of appearance they often require as much work as a full sized quill. There are five key steps in planning and making the perfect quilt.