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Maggie with her baby quilt |
Although the finished product is important when considering a baby quilt, it isn’t the only thing. The energy and time that goes into the project is at least as important. After all, if you’re giving a baby a quilt, you are hopefully giving the new baby an heirloom. Something to use but also something to keep. A well-made, well-cared for quilt could easily make it to the next generation. It could be featured in baby pictures, or used for a play mat (or a cape, or a fort top, or a picnic blanket) when baby gets a bit older. A quilt isn’t just to keep the baby warm, it's to be weaved into the fabric of the baby’s childhood. Making a baby quilt for a new arrival is a labor of love, so giving a quilt that is as unique as its recipient is worth your time. Here are some ideas for personalizing quilts:
- piecing —
There are thousands of different ideas for pieced quilts. You can choose something traditional, or go with a fast and easy modern pattern like a zig-zag quilt, choosing colors and fabrics to match your tastes. You end up with a quilt that is handmade and fairly unique. I made a “ trip around the world” quilt for one of my daughters to play with when she was two. I wanted it to be colorful and have lots of energy. I had a good time making it and I’ve always been happy with that quilt.
I also like to experiment with pre-made patterns and then branch off to suit my personal tastes. For example, I am currently making a quilt for my sister’s baby Sasha that started out as an experiment with a “broken dishes” block. As I started playing with the block I realized I could change the designs in some interesting ways as I turned them. Then I started to change the block assembly and ended up making a heart out of half square triangles. I liked it and it reminded me of my sister and my feelings for her and her baby. Then I started working on growing the quilt in a way that felt right for her.
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Sasha's Heart |
I also like to experiment with pre-made patterns and then branch off to suit my personal tastes. For example, I am currently making a quilt for my sister’s baby Sasha that started out as an experiment with a “broken dishes” block. As I started playing with the block I realized I could change the designs in some interesting ways as I turned them. Then I started to change the block assembly and ended up making a heart out of half square triangles. I liked it and it reminded me of my sister and my feelings for her and her baby. Then I started working on growing the quilt in a way that felt right for her.
2. pictures —
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Froggy Quilt |
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Embroidered Poem on Sash's Quilt |
I referred to a book that I enjoyed in an earlier post called Quilt Talk, which includes a paper pieced alphabet for incorporating messages into quilts. This is a great technique. I also really like to embroider messages. I used embroidery in the above mentioned sister-in-law quilt to write names under each handprint, which I felt was particularly effective. I also chose a beautiful verse from a poem to embroider onto my niece Sasha’s quilt. It sums up my feelings of love for her and the promise of childhood and I like the way it looks on the quilt top. It has become a feature of her quilt.
4. quilting —
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Quilting detail for Scarlet's quilt |
Sometimes the binding on a quilt can be an afterthought. But you still have plenty of choices to make when it comes to finishing your quilt. What color will you choose? Will you choose one fabric or make it scrapy. Do you want it to blend into your quilt or frame it, or do you want to do something completely different, like add prairie points, or a scalloped border?
These five things to consider here aren’t an exhaustive list. Really it is only a beginning. There are plenty of other choices that need to be made when creating a quilt. Each quilter must make them as she moves through the process. Her aesthetic and the recipient of her quilt will guide her as she works.
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Scarlet sleeping under her baby quilt |
Each of the choices made along the way add up to a finished quilt, but they also add up to something that is completely personal and unique. This is why a quilt from The Land of Nod will never be an heirloom. The care, effort and attention to detail put into a quilt that has been made for a specific person is what makes a quilt an heirloom. This is the value of a quilt. And this is the process that separates your quilt from anything you could buy in the marketplace.
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