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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.

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.

Then the second layer, usually a thin blanket or a worn sheet, was placed on the quilt frame in the same manner - always checking to make sure that the corners were at right angles.

Once you have learned to crochet, you just have to find a great baby blanket pattern. You can find patterns for free online. You can often print these patterns out so you have them for reference. You can also check your local library for crochet pattern books. There are complete books of crochet patterns for you to check out. You can also get pattern ideas from craft magazines, don't forget to check back issues.

Now you need to cut your squares. If you bough precut squares, you are in luck because you can skip this step. Make sure you measure your squares very carefully. If they are off, even by a little, your quilt will not come together correctly. You might not even realize it until you get halfway done with your quilt. Once you are finished cutting, double check your work and look over it again. You can't afford any mistakes!

Another way to customize a blanket is by including text in it. This may be a favorite punch line; a line from a song; a secret code between the two of you; a meaningful date; or even a surname.