The baby shower guests are completely bowled over by the beauty of the baby quilt you’ve just presented to the mom-to-be. Because it’s a handmade baby quilt designed like no other, everyone is impressed with how clever you were to select such a fabulous gift.
While you’re basking in the glory of the guests’ admiration, you might reflect on the quilter’s journey that started with a dream and ended with your dream gift for the new baby.
The Idea Blossoms
Quilters are a special breed of cat with minds teeming with unique baby quilt ideas. New themes for baby quilts handmade from flannel are always germinating in their heads as they shop in fabric stores for quilt prints and patterns to enhance the nursery and delight the little babies who’ll be cuddling with them. They pounce on whimsical animal prints because they can be used in so many novel ways. They see a fabric bolt of toy cars and trucks and envision how they’ll zoom across a solid flannel landscape. Perhaps it’s a fish print that sparks their imagination and launches a maritime design or a droll frog family that is paired with a tropical lagoon print. The quilter sees a story growing from the type of fabric squares and their arrangement. So at first contact, the little one is soothed by the touch of the super soft baby flannel. And later, the beloved quilt will be the source of fairy tales and adventures.
Planning Is Key to the Perfect Design
So now the quilter had an armful of lively prints and coordinating patterns that will comprise the new creation. Perhaps she’s snagged some minky fabrics that will add texture and more detail to the design scheme. The next step is careful planning of the future baby quilt so that all the chosen materials work together in the most harmonious and eye-pleasing way. This is done with a design board and graph paper, so that no surprises occur once the sewing begins.
Prepping Fabrics Is Essential
There’s nothing glamorous about prewashing the fabrics and ironing out all the wrinkles, but a conscientious quilter does just that. Handmade baby quilts are going to get a lot of laundering, so it’s important that any shrinkage take place now, before the sewing starts. Those who know how to make unique baby quilts have too much pride of workmanship to allow wrinkles to show in the finished product.
Fabrication Is Fastidious
Great care goes into every step of the fabrication process of handmade baby quilts for sale. Accurate measuring, precise cutting, even stitching, durable binding, in addition to a pretty thing the quilter’s goal is to deliver a top quality piece of art that will survive frequent launderings and remain as a keepsake for future babies in the family.
Quality Takes Time
How long does it take? Of course it depends on how much time the quilter has set aside for the project, but busy quilters with family activities or other jobs might need three or four weeks to produce the baby quilt that will wow the family, delight new baby, and serve as a treasured family keepsake.