Quilters are always looking for quick, easy and accurate methods for various processes in their quilt making.

After all, making a quilt takes hours, days, weeks, months and sometimes even years, so why not use whatever methods are available to shorten the overall time it takes to make the quilt, and thereby lengthen the time you have to enjoy the quilt?

That’s why quilters were very excited when the rotary cutter came on the scene. I can tell you that I was pretty excited.

Prior to owning a rotary cutter, I marked each piece of fabric with my cutting line, cut with a heavy pair of Gingher scissors, and it took hours and days to cut the fabric pieces for a small quilt, let alone a king size quilt.

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Here’s another great article from Penny at http://www.How-to-Quilt.com

While these aren’t baby patterns specifically, the perfect choice of fabric can turn even the most simple block into a blanket your baby will love.  My personal easy favorite is the London Stairs 4 Patch below.  The wide strips lend themselves to busy or interesting fabric prints.

Just remember to keep contrast in mind!  Two fabrics of the same color or saturation will hide the pattern.  Look for companion fabrics (especially if they come in light/dark variations) to make choosing easy!  Or choose many different fabric prints, but remember to sort by light & dark and keep them partnered consistently.

Elaine

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Technorati Tags: 4 patch, 5 patch, 9 patch, strip blocks, strip piecing

How to make a baby quilt, including tips on fabric, design, binding and backing; get expert tips and advice on making a quilt in this free instructional video.

Expert: Shelly Cordsen
Bio: Shelly Cordsen has been sewing and crafting for years. She offers classes around the Southwest demonstrating many different advanced techniques.
Filmmaker: Mike Phillips

Duration : 0:1:41

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Technorati Tags: arm, baby, diy, fabric, frame, free, how-to, long, machine, pattern, quilting, supply, video

Visit http://www.lifefrugalandsimple.com for show notes. Duration : 0:9:39

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Technorati Tags: easybabyquilt, Episode19

Watch this charming video by author Jenny Wilding Cardon.  She shares her creation of the book with a charming and personal style.  All the patterns are featured in the segment.  I wanted to run out and make every one!  Enjoy!

Elaine

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Technorati Tags: applique, baby, blankets, fuzzy, patchwork, quilt, quilting, quilts, shower

There are no quilts more durable or lovable than Rag Quilts.  These fluffy guys get their name from the “ragged” edges of the exposed seams.  The more the quilt is washed and loved, the fluffier the ragged edges become.  Fabrics that lend themselves well to this quilt pattern are Flannel, 100% Cotton Homespun plaids, and denim.

Rag quilts are constructed quite differently from traditional patchwork quilts.  Each patch is layered (and stitched together) as a complete sandwich before they are connected to the rest of the patches.  In the case of a denim rag quilt, the batting layer is omitted and sometimes the stitching step as well.  The edges of each patch are exposed onto one side of the blanket and allowed to fray, creating that soft, fuzzy look.

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Fun and Easy Rag Quilting

The first time I heard the term “Rag Quilting,” I though it had something to do with using big, long rags of fabric and somehow weaving them together to make a quilt.

Boy, was I wrong!

It turns out that rag quilting got its name from the ragged edges on the quilt. No doubt in my mind that this quilt design was created by a quilter as a variation of a Quilt as You Go kind of pattern – whether it was intentional or accidental is something only that quilter knows.

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Nothing warms on a cold day or night like flannel. Flannel brings to mind our favorite childhood footed pajamas or night gown or a favorite old shirt. Flannel is a great fabric choice for quilting because of its warmth and its association with good memories.

If you have never quilted with flannel, there are a few tips worth knowing before your first flannel quilting project.

When buying flannel, roll a little off the bolt for closer observation. If you stretch it out and hold it up against light, you can see any thin spots that might weaken the integrity of the fabric.

Some thin spots are okay, but take not of how many you see in the area you have pulled off. A flannel fabric that has too many weak spots to cut around will only ruin your quilting project if a thin spot works its way accidentally into your project.

It seems as though flannel that is printed is stiffer than woven flannel. The answer for this is that the dyes used in the printed flannel add thickness to the fabric. If you don’t know how to tell whether flannel fabric is printed or woven, it’s very easy.

Just look at the back side of the flannel. If it is woven, the pattern will look the same on the back as it does on the front side of the fabric. The back side of printed fabric will look as though there is a design on one side that does not show totally on the back.

Woven fabric frays much easier than printed fabric because the dyes help hold some of the fray down.

Flannel varies by manufacturer. Always wash and dry your flannel before starting your project. Use the warmest settings possible considering the color of your flannel fabric on both your washer and drier.

Some flannel shrinks as much as 5 percent. It’s best to preshrink your fabric instead of getting it all done then having it shrink. Finish the pre-preparation work by sizing your flannel fabric.

Flannel frays easily, which is great for rag quilt projects, but not so great for other quilt piecing projects. To accommodate the fray possibility, cut your pieces a little larger to allow for a bigger seam allowance.

For instance, instead of the typical one-quarter inch seam allowance, consider bumping the allowance up to one-half inch. Press your seams open when you piece with flannel, too.

If you are using flannel for backing of your quilt project, consider running around all the edges of the fabric with an over lock or serging stitch first. This will help prevent fraying around the edges of your backing

If you are using your machine to piece or quilt your flannel fabric projects, you will need to keep your machine clean. Flannel creates lots of fuzz that can build up on your machine.

Keep your small machine brush handy and keep the flannel dusted out as you work. You will also need to change your needle periodically for the same reasons. Plus, flannel tends to dull needles quickly.

Rag quilts plump up beautifully when flannel fabrics are used. To make snipping the fabric easier, use spring loaded snippers instead of traditional scissors.

The spring loaded snippers fit easily into the palm of your hand and use a motion more like squeezing a stapler than traditional scissor cutting.

If you have a reasonably large project to snip for ragging, regular scissors will make your hands cramp and ache quickly. Keep your snippers sharpened to avoid achy hands, too.

If you are working on a rag quilt project using flannel and are not happy with the amount of fraying you get after a washing and drying cycle, check the quilt to see if you have made enough snips in the seams.

Generally, the snips cut into the seams should be made at about every one-quarter inch. If your cuts are already spaced at quarter inch intervals, continue washing and drying the quilt until you get the desired fraying results.

The project will plump more with each cycle through the washer and drier.

Flannel is my favorite fabric to use for baby quilts.	T-shirt quilt made with flannel in addition to the t-shirts.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com

©2009, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 27 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

This article courtesy of http://www.How-To-Quilt.com/. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

The first quilt I ever made was for a dear friend-since-college who was expecting her first child.  Having never so much as sewn a scrap of quilt fabric in my life, I wanted something that was easy enough to complete in the few months I had and yet, personalized and meaningful to my friend.  With the advice of my fabulous (and hopefully guest blogger) mother-in-law, I chose to do a whole cloth quilt with hand quilting. This first quilt consisted of two yards of wonderfully appropriate fabric (a yard  of a fancy fish print for the top and a yard of sparkly black for the backing).  I sandwiched the two fabrics with my batting and quilted around the designs on the print with sparkly metallic thread.  No piecing, no chalking.  I got help with the binding and hooray!  A beautiful, personalized baby quilt.

Easiest Pattern #1

• * One yard of printed fabric, one yard of solid or complementary fabric for backing.
• * Sandwich and pin, then stitch around the print designs for the quilting.
• * Bind. (Note: you may choose any size fabric!  Smaller for dolls or car eats, larger for crib size)

Easiest Pattern #2

An even easier version of the whole-cloth idea is to avoid binding and quilting altogether and simply assemble the layers “pillow-case” style, turn inside out, and then knot.  One of my favorite quilts for my son was this style with a fantasic funny computer print fabric.

• * One yard of printed fabric, one yard of solid or complementary fabric for backing. 
• * Stack and pin the layers as such:

1. Top fabric, print side UP.
2. Backing fabric, print side DOWN (pretty sides facing each other)
3. Batting on top.

• * Sew three layers together around the edges leaving at least three inches open along one side.  Note that batting sometimes catches on the foot, so watch carefully.
• * Trim the edges to 1/2″ from your seam.
• * Reach into the hole you have left, between the top and backing fabric, and grab the opposite seam.
• * Gently pull the quilt inside-out.  Your print fabrics should be right side out, and the batting should be inside.
• * Smooth the layers and press the outside seam flat if you wish.
• * Hand stitch up the hole to complete the seam.
• * Now take 2-3 strands of Embroidery floss (or yarn) and knot together the three layers in a grid pattern, at least every six inches.

Easiest Pattern #3

Finally, a pre-printed fabric panel can offer the look and complexity of a pieced quilt-top, or the detail of a framed picture on the wall, without piecing or embroidery at all.  Panels come in designs from the wildly creative to beloved trademarked characters such as Pooh and Peter Rabbit.  They can look like complete quilts with false patchwork and borders, or they can look like pictures cut out of a child’s book. 

Very often, a panel will be partnered with theme fabrics that make selecting backing or borders (should you choose to add your own) easy and even fun.  Some panels even provide chalk markings for quilting suggestions.

• * One printed fabric panel, one matching length complementary or matching fabric for backing.
• * Sandwich and pin, then quilt.
• * Bind.

Some tips to consider when quilting a pre-printed panel:

1. Study your design.  If the pattern mimics piece quilting, be sure to quilt on the faux “seams” to enhance the illusion of piecing.
2. If there are areas of blank space within your panel, use those for creative quilting.  Sew a “rainbow” for example in the empty sky of a Noah’s Ark panel, for example.  Add a quilted carrot to your Peter Rabbit panel.  Not only does it make the quilt come alive with the theme, your special child will have fun “finding” those hidden pictures as they grow.

The most important step in creating that very first special Baby Quilt is to just put your foot out!  My first quilt was loose, my stitches uneven, the binding a little lumpy.  But the little one who received it proved to me the truth of the phrase “It’s the thought that counts.”  I had chosen the fabric very carefully and my friend was touched by the theme that was special to our friendship.  The little one who loves that quilt doesn’t notice the lumps or uneven stitches.  She just knows it was made by someone who loves her.  Happy quilting!

Elaine