Baby Blanket Reveal

I can’t believe it has been a week since I flew to meet my new grandson.  I already know I’m going to have a difficult time returning home.  I’m called  “Nina, the Baby Whisperer” and I am perfectly good with that!  Happy that I’m leaving a piece of me with him…in this quilt.  It’s very easy to make, though it took a few days to complete.  It’s pretty much the only quilt I like to make because I don’t really do a lot of long term projects.  Directions can be found for this rag quilt everywhere on the internet  but I will give you my version of how I made mine. 
First, I selected six different cotton-only fabrics plus a solid for the back and a few of the front pieces. This equated to the following:

3/4 yd. of each printed piece of cotton fabric

2 1/2 yds. of white cotton fabric

1 1/2-2 yds. of cotton batting.

Two Fat Quarters or Scraps for the Cactus.

Water Soluble Pen

Lightweight Fusible Web

Sewing Scissors or Rotary Cutter

Rotary Cutting Board

Clear Ruler

A Pair of Snipping Scissors for Fabric

Sewing Machine

Thread

Platinum 6 Machine

Cacti Wild and Free Die Set by Spellbinders

Though I have seen these quilts made several different ways, I find that they ruffle up the nicest when using flannel (the best) or cotton fabrics WITH batting in between them. Yes, you can make them without the batting, but the quilt has a tendency to look a bit limp.  Your choice.

I cut all my pieces 6″ x 6″.  (It is important to be as accurate as possible so that your pieces match up correctly.)  You will need two pieces per square, making that to be 72 printed squares (including the solid white on the front) and 72 squares of the solid white for the back. You will then need to cut 72, 5 1/2″ squares from the cotton batting. I created a pattern from a sheet of card stock as shown in the blue piece below but you could use a clear ruler and a rotary cutter and zip right through the cutting phase of this.

Before stitching my squares together, I created my pattern. Remember you can create your own. I suggest penciling in a pattern on a sheet of paper to remember how your quilt is to be assembled.

I then began assembling my squares together, solid white on the back, batting in between and the patterned piece on the front. In other words, you are making a sandwich!  I made sure to make all the squares even, with the batting centered between them.  Using a water-soluble pencil, I drew an “X”  from corner to corner.  Pinning the squares together so they don’t move around,  stitch the “X” with a 2.5-3.0 length straight stitch.  Do this to all the squares.

When you are done, the quilt should now have a total of 72 squares.  This is my assembly line.  You can see the stitched ones in the polka dot print below.

To assemble the quilt begin by putting the  back sides of two squares together (solid white to solid white) and stitching 1/2″ from one edge.  The seams or rather raw edges should all face UP on the same side of the quilt. This means that the back side will have NO raw edges. Pick up the next square in the same way and attach it to the previous piece, again using a 1/2″ seam. Continue in this manner for each row, making sure all seams face up. When you have completed one row, set it aside and begin the next row, rotating the fabric patterns as you go. When all the rows have been assembled, you can begin attaching the rows together with one long seam, in the same manner as the individual squares, remembering to sew  1/2″ from the edge, back sides together and with all seams facing up.

When the quilt has been stitched together, stitch 1/2″ all the way around the outer parameter of the blanket.  You are almost to the end!  Now the easiest but tediest part.  Use your snipping scissors to clip almost down to the edge of each seam being careful not to cut into the seam. Snip in 1/4″ intervals.  Do this for every seam and for the parameter of the quilt.

To adhere Cactus to the quilt, apply fusible web to the back side of the scrap fabric as indicated on web instructions.  Die-cut the Cactus from fabric/paper.  (The Cactus die can also be found here.) Not all dies of this type will cut fabric but this particular die will.  You may need to run it through your die-cutting machine several times to ensure every thread in the fabric has been cut.  Peel paper backing off fusible web and iron Cactus onto quilt squares as desired.  Sew or hand stitch the details onto the Cactus.

Now the final requirement is to wash the quilt and throw it in a hot dryer. The heat causes the fluffing of the seam, creating a chenille-type effect. Love it!

The very best is saved for last! My sweet little grandson Zachary. Just love him to bits.

Well that’s it for today’s tutorial. Hope you liked it.

XO,

Debi

 

P.S. I am with an Affiliate Link program called ShareASale. Though i will get a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the above linked items (die and/or machine), it will not be reflected in your purchase price. Yay!