Shaded Baby Blanket While Ruby Naps

     I am a sucker for unique baby stuff.  After having my own I really began to appreciate anything that wasn't the cookie cutter stuff at Target and Walmart.  Theses baby quilts are car-seat sized, the same size as an average receiving blanket, you can snuggle them around your little peanut in the car without having yards of quilt dragging on the ground, they make perfect 'night-night' blankets and are more than sturdy enough to handle the washes that will come their way,

  for this project you will need:

• one pack of varied shades on fabric (they are about six dollars at hobby lobby and come in many color families)
• scissors/ rotary cutter
• ruler
• 1 yard of batting
• 1 yard of flannel or micro fleece for backing (for snuggly warmth, cotton would work for a lighter version)

      Pre-wash your fabric!!!!! for quilts this is very important, skip this step and your entire project is ruined once you throw it in the wash.

  I iron my fabrics once they are out of the dryer, this is mostly to help me when I am cutting, the flatter the fabric the easier it is to cut accurately with the rotary cutter.

   I used a template for 4 inch squares and used a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I cute out as many squares as I could from each color, I like to be able to play with my layouts until I find one that I like.

   Once I find a lay out i like i pin the squares together in strips then sew them.  Whatever seam allowance you are comfortable with, use, just make sure you keep it the same throughout the entire quilt. 

    When you have finished your strips pin them together, matching up the corners of the squares as you go, then just sew them together to finish your facing!  Press the seams open for a crisp look.

   Cut batting to the size of your facing, then doing the same with the flannel backing.  Put the backing fabric right side to the right side of the facing. then lay the batting ontop of that. 

     Sew the three layers together leaving a 3 inch gap, then use that gap to turn the quilt right side out.  Iron the quilt flat and sew down the edges.  I always use a decorative stitch for my edging stitch.  I turn in the 3 inch opening and sew it down when I am doing the edge stitching.  

This is a great opportunity that have some fun with contrast thread, if you are comfortable with your stitches I recommend it for some extra pop.

     

if you don't feel like sewing you can buy one of these here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RubyKei