Striped baby quilt

I was looking for ideas to make gifts for a newborn when one of our cousins announced their pregnancy. I had knit, crochet or sewing as my three options. And since I was pregnant as well at that time and into my third trimester with a full time job, I knew I had to choose a project that I could complete before my baby arrived or I wouldn’t be able to mail it in time before their baby arrived. So sewing it was.

 

 

 

 

With the top of the blanket done, it was time to prep the backing fabric.

Whenever I’m making a quilt I have to label it. By labeling a quilt I can write a meaningful message on it , which will be cherished by the person who uses it.

Here’s the label I made for this quilt

 

I wrote on it using a fabric pen in a new calligraphy font I’d recently learnt.

With both the front and the back of the quilt done, I was now ready to create the quilt sandwich.

I’d used fleece blanket as batting for my niece’s quilt 4 years ago and it is still going strong after multiple washes. So fleece was my first choice for the batting.

With the front+batting+back layers pinned together with the right sides touching, I stitched all around the quilt leaving a small gap to turn it inside out.

 

Here I’m top stitching all around the quilt using my new brother sewing machine and the edging foot. This has made my top stitching skills look professional and elegant.

The last step was to stitch in the ditch to quilt all the layers together. Stitching in the ditch is sewing along the seams of the stripes so batting fabric inside doesn’t shift and stays put.

Now all that was left was some photography.

Here it is displayed beautifully on a Victorian style crib we ordered for our baby. Is it beautiful? I mean both the crib and the quilt

 

 

 

I totally believe that handmade gifts (whether big or small) are way more special than any store bought gifts. So whenever possible I try to make something by hand before going for store bought options.

I specially love the expression on the receiver’s face or their reaction in messages/emails when they receive the gift; a gift that in most of the cases took more time and effort (and money) to make than we’d ever care to admit, and so worth it.