Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts - making a basket lining


The idea for my next project came when I visited a craft fair at my local village hall. On one table were arranged an assortment of wicker baskets, round, square, rectangular all beautifully made but looking rather plain and uninteresting. I had the idea of making a lining for a basket, filling it with baby toiletries and giving it to my niece Rosemary for her new baby.

I decided on a rectangular basket as this is the easiest shape to line. Next I sorted through my extensive selection of cotton fabric scraps, and bearing in mind Rosemary’s baby is a girl I chose scraps in shades of pink, white, lemon and some with a pretty floral design. I then collected my materials together ready to line the basket later that evening. The first one was a piece of calico big enough to fit the outside measurement of the basket, depth of the basket and the base. Then my assortment of scraps and sewing thread, a length of bias binding two inches wide and long enough to go around the basket plus two extra inches. Some narrow elastic and finally a length of pink satin ribbon to make a bow.

In late October the nights are beginning to draw in, and to sit front of the fire in my cosy living room with the wind blowing a gale outside was bliss. With my cat Henry curled up asleep at my feet I settled happily at my task.

This is the method which I used to line the baby basket.

Measure the width and depth of the basket adding double the depth so that the lining will overlap the top. Make the basket lining in three pieces, two identical pieces to cover the sides and overlap the top and one piece to cover the base. Cut the pieces out of the calico adding a couple of inches to allow for the seams. Put a piece of the fabric scraps onto the calico and pin it in place. Place the second scrap of fabric, right sides together over the first patch. Pin the edges together and then machine stitch and press the seam open. Continue pinning and stitching the patches together in this way until the calico is covered by the fabric scraps. Now fit the lining into the basket placing it patched side down onto the basket holding it in place with sticky tape or pins. Make a series of darts to reduce the fullness of the sides and to make a snug fit for the base. Machine stitch the darts. Place the side pieces back into the basket, the fabric pieces towards the basket. Place the base piece into the bottom of the basket, pin the pieces together, remove the lining from the basket and machine stitch the pieces together, press the seam open. Do not forget to leave a gap in the centre for the basket handle.

Take the bias binding and bind the raw edge of the overlap with a quarter inch seam allowance, machine stitching close to the edge of the binding to make a channel through which to thread the narrow elastic. Press the lining and place it in the basket threading the elastic through the channel and securely finishing off the ends.

Next make a cover for the basket handle by stitching some more patches together to form a strip about four inches wide and long enough to wrap around the handle and cover it completely. Turn and press under the raw edge along one side of the strip, then wind the strip around the handle making sure the raw edges on the other side of the strip are hidden under the pressed edge. Sew down the ends on both sides.

Then the finishing touch a splendid satin bow!

Next morning after the storm of the night before I awoke to a cloudless blue sky . After a quick breakfast I donned my coat and hat and taking Rosemary’s present, I made my way down the lane to the farm which my niece shares with her husband and new baby. Her delight at seeing the basket was well worth the effort I had taken and we settled down to a cosy chat and a cup of tea.
Happy quilting Annabel.

Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts – Creating stripwork quilts

Stripwork quilting, as the name implies, is made-up from narrow, rectangular pieces of material. The advantage of this design is that it does not need to be planned as carefully as other designs provided that you are willing to add material with any pattern on it. If , however, you want to limit the design to specific materials, then you will have to check more carefully that you have enough of each type of material that you want to use.

The simple design resulting from stripwork make it especially useful for creating quilted patchwork bags, purses and other utility items. A wide range of fabrics are suitable for these items, either lightweights or heavier blends, which can be sewn successfully on a machine. They will then stand up to the wear and tear that bags and clothing are likely to receive. I use patchwork bags created in this way for storing my quilting tools and materials in.

When I first started on this hobby, I made a cot quilt for my first child entirely of scraps of fabric, many of which were taken from discarded clothing or left over pieces from dressmaking. To simplify things further, I created 7 strips of the same length using whatever bits of material were available. To explain – I cut whatever length of material I had down to a 9 cm (3½ in) wide strip, (some of which were shorter than their width!) These were then sown end-to-end with other 9 cm wide strips until the joined-up strip was 106 cm (42 in) long. I then repeated the process to create a further 6 strips (7 in total) all of which were 9 cm (3½ in) wide. Then I then sowed the 7 strips together (side by side) to form the finished patchwork top.

Next I cut a piece of wadding to measure 115cm (45”) x 72 cm(28”) and then a piece of cotton fabric at 125 cm(49”) x 82cm (32”) for the lining and border. I sandwiched the wadding between the patchwork and the lining, bringing the lining around to meet the patchwork. Then, rather than just joining the lining straight to the quilt top with a single layer of wadding between I folded the edge of the wadding back on itself so that there was a border of wadding twice the thickness of the rest of the quilt. This created a nice extra thick rim to the quilt which fitted snugly under baby’s chin! I then made a 1 cm turn under on the lining and tacked and machine zigg zagged through all the layers.

Finally, if you want to make the quilting more defined you can sew round the individual patches. Remember quilting is always done from the centre outwards so if you require this effect quilt the patches first and then finish with the border.

Happy quilting,

Annabel

Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts

For the beginner to quilting, a baby quilt is a less daunting project than a full size quilt. A feasible size for a cot quilt would be one measuring 72 cm (28 in) by 106 cm (42 in) which would require less fabric and be much easier to handle than a full sized quilt. It would make a nice present for a friend or a member of your family who is expecting a baby and act as encouragement to get you started on this wonderful hobby of quilting.

It is a good idea to choose the best fabric you can afford because much time and effort is spent making a quilt. In this way, the value of the fabric matches the value of the effort spent on making the quilt. Where you want to limit the costs, a novel and cheaper way is to create a quilt by obtaining fabric from jumble sales or charity shops where good quality clothing can often be found. You must remember though, to use only 100% cotton and to make sure the fabrics used are of the same weight and that they will wash well together. Getting the weight of the fabric right is important as sewing hard fabrics by hand will be hard on your fingers as well as your patience, while thin sheer fabrics will be a problem because the seams will show through.

Hexagon patchwork (made from regular 6 sided hexagonal pieces of material) provides a simple design suitable for the beginner. Make 2 hexagon templates from stiff card, the larger one measuring 10 cm (4 in) across the widest point, with each side being 5 cm (2 in) long, while the smaller one should measure 8 cm (3 in) across the widest point, with each side being 4 cm (1 ½ in).

The larger template is placed on the material and a line drawn round it to mark out the hexagonal pieces of material. Use chalk, a fine pencil or a special fading ink pen to do the marking. This isn’t too critical because the marked edge will be folded inside the quilt and will be invisible. The smaller template is used to mark out hexagons onto strong brown paper such as that used for wrapping parcels and you will need one brown paper hexagon for each piece of material. Cut out all the fabric hexagons and the same number of paper hexagons and you are ready to start making the quilt

A brown paper hexagon is pinned into the center of each fabric hexagon so that there is enough seam allowance, about 1 cm (½ in), to turn over the brown paper template. Make sure that the paper is pinned to the ‘wrong side’ of the fabric with the side you want to show away from the paper. Fold the edges of the fabric over the paper and tack the sides with a running stitch which should go right through the fabric and paper, to hold them together. Do not tie-off the end because this thread is removed, along with the paper, from the finished quilt.

Join the patches together using small neat stitches and a fine needle. This is easily done by placing 2 hexagons face-to-face (brown paper facing out on each side), and then fine sow across one edge, taking care not to go through the paper with this stitching. The two pieces can then be opened out flat after sewing, leaving the paper in place until all the hexagons have been joined up.

When the quilt is finished remove all the papers and tacking stitches, and then use a single bed sheet to back the quilt either pink for a girl or blue for a boy.

Hexagon patchwork is more suited to hand sewing and for using left over scraps of fabric to give a truly wonderful and colourful quilt.

Best wishes,

Annabel

Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts

Baby Quilts

Welcome to my Baby Quilts blog site. I am just starting the site up (April 2006) and will update it monthly with new information. Here you can learn about the basics methods for making baby quilts as well as the most up-to-date techniques used now for making quilts and quilting. I hope there will be something new each month for all!

Best wishes,

Annabel

Baby Quilts