​My aunt and uncle decided to have a day after Christmas family gathering because their new grandbaby was in town and wanted the family to meet him. As loyal readers know my standard baby gift is a homemade baby quilt. Even thought this was short notice I didn't want the new mom and dad feel left out. A few days before Christmas I ran to the fabric store and found some fun cowboy prints and decided on a quick and easy quilt.

I cute the two cowboy prints into strips. The buckle print was cut into four inches strips and the rodeo print was cut in two 10 inch strips and one 5 inch strip. I then sewed the strips in an alternating pattern. Next I sprayed Quilt Basting spray all over the red flannel backing and laid the front on top, smoothing out the wrinkles as I went. The spray is washable and helps hold the two pieces together while during the quilting.

The border was created with a four inch strip of cowprint. For a baby quilt I buy 1/2 yard for the border and cut it down in the four inch strips before sewing each piece together and ironing a double fold. This fold hides the edges and creates a clean look to the quilt. 

I have shown you a few quilts I have done in the past; a wedding guest quilt and a bridesmaid dress quilt. These are two simple easy baby quilts I did for two baby showers. These simple and adorable baby quilts are my traditional baby shower gift. For a basic square quilt I suggest anywhere from 8 to 15 different cotton fabric, depending on the pattern 1/4 to 1/2 yard for each. You will also need 1 1/2 yards of cotton fabric for the back of the quilt, I suggest a flannel fabric. Lastly you will need 1/2 a yard of cotton fabric for the trim. Cut out all of the quilt fabric into squares and decided on your pattern. I like to lay all of the squares on the ground in the desired pattern until I am ready to sew. I start with sewing a small row at a time, 1/4 inch seam. After two rows are completed, I align the seams together and pin in place. You can skip this step, but I don't recommend it because if your squares don't line up correctly it can ruin the symmetrical look of the quilt. Once all of the rows are sewn together I use a quilt   binding spray to help keep the front piece to the back piece. Sew the two pieces together in the desired pattern; rows along the seams, diagonal, or random. If you don't want to sew them together you can use a needle and a very thin ribbon to knot the pieces together. I have also in the past sewn buttons to hold together. Once the two pieces are attached sew on the trim. There are several steps to making a quilt and can be broken down to a step a day, but in a rush you can easily accomplish your very own baby quilt in just a few hours! I hope if you have a baby shower coming up you skip the registry and make a special and personizled baby gift. I promise you the mom-to-be will be mood by your precious keep sake!

A few weeks ago one of my cousins asked if I would make her sister a special Christmas gift. She wanted to use her old bridesmaid dress from her sister's wedding to make a baby quilt for her expecting sister. I was really happy to help make such a special gift. We picked out fabrics that would go with the theme of the nursery and the bright pink bridesmaid dress: 8 cotton prints, 1 satin print to go along with the pink dress, 1 print for the trim and a soft flannel print for the back.  

I cut the 8 cotton prints, the satin fabric, and the fabric inside of the dress into 4 x 4 squares using a rotary cutter, 4 inch width cutting ruler and a cutting mat.

I laid the squares on the floor until I worked out the pattern. I wanted the bright pink from the bridesmaid dress to be the focal point of the quilt so I used it the most. I sewed each row of squares into a single row. Once I had two rows sewn, I pinned the two together matching each corner and seamed together. Once all of the rows were together I sewn on the flower detail from the dress to the center of the quilt. I then measured the back flannel fabric and cut it to fit the front piece. I then used quilt washable spray to get the two piece to stay together as I seamed them together. I didn't need to use a quilt batting since I was using flannel and didn't want the quilt to be too heavy. I sewed the two pieces together by doing a simile line pattern that followed the seams of the squares.

For the trim I cut the fabric into long strips of 4 inch width and sewed all of the pieces together. I then ironed the strips in half, then ironed the edges into the middle seam. I basically made my own bias tape. I pinned the trim in place and sewed together.

This was a fun and sweet idea for such a personal and memorable Christmas gift. I hope she likes it!

This quilt was a year and a half in the making. In March of last year, my cousins asked me if I would be willing to sew her a wedding guest book quilt. I happily agreed and we went out to buy the fabric we needed. I cut out all the fabric in 5" x 5" squares and for the signatures I suggest using a none print fabric with a permanent fabric marker. The wedding came and went and a year later we realize that we never finished working on the quilt. During my birthday party in June, we started talking about it again and I asked if she would care if I entered it into the fair. She agreed and I now knew I had a deadline! In August we finally got together and planned the layout of the quilt and picked out the pictures she wanted to add to the quilt. I used a direct print on cotton fabric product that I purchased at Joann's for the pictures since I knew I didn't want to use a print and iron on product. I've used them in the past but I find them to me more work. With the direct print fabric I was able to center the picture in a Word document, printed it, then cut the fabric to the size square I wanted. It took about a week to sew everything together and that was working on it only a few hours a night. I love how the fun fabrics work so well together, and hopefully so will the fair judges!  

Update: I received Second Place in the Memory Quilt Division!!