EASY BABY QUILT PATTERNS

Baby onesie quilts are the brain child of some unknown mom dabbling in baby onesie crafts. I can picture her sitting in front of a big pile of baby clothing that was either going to be tossed into the trash bin or donated to charity. Then suddenly a light bulb popped up over her head and she had the brilliant idea of cutting out the cute parts on the bodice of those precious outfits to make patches for a onesie quilt.

Unlike the baby dress quilt where the entire piece of clothing is appliqued onto a block to form the foundation for a patchwork quilt, this mother only saved the front of the outfit. The names, birth dates and funny quotes were removed in square or rectangle shapes and then borders made of pretty, baby print quilt fabrics were used to strip the cut outs and form squares in uniform sizes to form your unique, personalized baby onesie quilt.

If you had a little time on your hands and wanted to make the onesie baby quilt more personal, you might embroider some names, dates or monograms in coordinating colors. You could personalize a corner or a central location on the outer border of the quilt. For a few pennies, you can turn baby clothes bound for the rag bin into a precious, personalized keepsake that will keep your memories close for many years.

Why is that the back of baby girl's party dresses always look so much better than the front? Could the stains have something to do with the fact that she found using her skirt to hold her dyed Easter eggs better than using her basket or that she didn't always have a good grip on the chocolate ice cream cones that she so looks forward to every Sunday?

Whatever may be behind the damaged, it just seems a shame to toss these outfits into the rag bag or even worse; the trash. What can we do with baby clothing that has more than a few square inches of good cotton fabric left in it even though the majority is stained with orange, green and Lord knows what else?

My advice would be to cut the good fabric away from the bad and use the material to make a baby clothes quilt. This is one of the oldest handmade baby quilt ideas in the book! In modern times when store bought is so cheap, the most precious of handmade baby quilts has fallen by the wayside.

I'm so happy to see seamstresses and young mothers who may never make another quilt in their lives pick up a pair of scissors and make up their minds to preserve those adorable albeit stained clothes that hold so many precious memories.

When it comes to crib quilts; quick and easy is the gold standard. Unless you are a professional; you don't want to spend your time pushing a needle and thread or operating a sewing machine when there is an infant you can cuddle in the rocker.

Time is not the only issue when it comes to a young mother's ability to learn a craft; money is often tight. Here's a list of my favorite FREE, quick and easy baby quilt patterns that I hope will encourage you to use baby's nap time to quilt.

Easy Log Cabin Baby Quilt Patterns

Scrap Quilt A nice pattern that will make good use of your tiny pieces of fabric.

Easy block pattern

Most rag baby quilts are no more than simple four patch patterns where a number of MEDIUM SIZE BLOCKS are sewn together in such a way that the raw edges of the quilting fabric can be frayed.

Occasionally you may find fabrics whose particular weave will not fray easily or that isn't attractive after the fraying process for any number of reasons. Quilters use scissors to evenly snip the edges of these fabrics rather than to unravel them as they might other more cooperative materials.

BEST QUILTING FABRIC FOR RAG CRIB QUILTS

Loosely woven fabrics that unravel are best. Flannel and denim are both very popular.

BATTING

You may have no need for quilt batting if your rag baby quilts are made with heavy denim fabrics. If you want that little extra puff and fluff that a layer of batting will give, buy thin, lightweight batting (some quilters like flannel rather than commercial batting) or the quilting bee may turn into a physical challenge. Take it from me, quilting denim will build those muscles, girls!

WHY BABY RAG QUILTS QUALIFY FOR THE LIST OF EASY BABY QUILT PATTERNS


1. Because the squares are large and work up quickly

2. All layers are cut at the same time

3. Rag quilts are good candidates for the tied quilting method especially if you use flannel for your batting

Experienced quilters can turn out these stylish quilts by the boatload very quickly without the need for free patterns or instructions, but for beginners here are some easy baby quilt patterns and instructions to get you on your way.

BABY QUILT PATTERNS


What could be easier than cutting squares and stitching them together to make a patchwork quilt top?

Choose quilting fabrics with baby motifs or colors you like and cut an appropriate number of squares to achieve the width and height that you need for your baby's needs taking seam allowances in consideration.

Lay your quilt squares out in a pleasing manner with a design that is attractive and showcases the fabrics you have selected in color, print and pattern.

Next, you will simply sew them together making sure that your corners are at a proper angle to guarantee the quilt will be square.

Did I hear you say that you can't quilt? The lack of quilting skills is not a problem with many attractive, fashionable handmade baby crib quilts.

Back in the day, quilting was done from hand from start to finish. There were no rotary cutters, no fast machine piecing methods and for that matter; no sewing machines.

Are vintage quilt patterns where we need to begin our quest for fast and easy quilting projects that we can finish in an afternoon? You might think that women who had large families and little time on their hands would not want to invest hours of work in something as mundane as a bedspread.

However, surviving antique quilts tell a completely different story. Occasionally you happen upon a basic nine patch that has been tied rather than quilted with tiny even stitches. More often we see elaborate applique quilts with detailed quilting patterns that would challenge the most advanced quilter.

Apparently housewives and mothers of long ago looked at their quilts as personalized works of art that gave testimony to their homemaking abilities. Perhaps if these artists had been born a few centuries later, they would have worn their careers and salaries as their badges of honor.

With the luxury of formal education well out of reach for most of our female ancestors, they had to attain personal fulfillment with whatever means they had available to them. They did their very best with what they had and left their work for us to admire.

I am so happy that I have the opportunity to stay at home and make quilts and tend to my babies and family or to pursue a career. Given those choices, I'll stay home and spend my time with my kids and having fun with my easy baby quilt patterns any old day.