Making a handmade quilt for a new mom is a gift that will be treasured and loved for generations. There are many people who choose to keep handmade quilts as family heirlooms, and you may find your quilt baby blanket turns into something that is passed down from generation to generation.
It is pretty to learn to sew quilt squares, you can do it by hand or with a machine. You can find an entire kit at the craft store that will provide you with the instructions, and all the material you need to make a square. Most of these kits you buy one square at a time, then put them all together. This makes quilting a little less overwhelming, since you only have to focus on getting one square at a time done. When it comes to the actual quilting of the blanket you can do it yourself or you can also pay someone else to do it for you. There are machines that make quilting very easy, but unless you are going to do a lot of quilting it might be more economical to have someone else do the quilting or do it by hand.
A great way to make a memorable quilt baby blanket gift is to get the whole family in on it. Each family member can make a square or two. You can use cloth markers to inscribe special messages from each member. You can choose to have everyone work on the same type of squares or you can have a mix and match baby quilt with a variety of square patterns. Both are lovely.
You can also get ahold of the grandparents to be and see if they have any clothes or blankets saved from the parents' childhood. If they do you could include these fabrics in the quilt for their child making it a multi-generational quilt, which will no doubt be a family heirloom.
When choosing colors and themes for a baby quilt the sky is the limit. You can go with bold exciting colors, cartoon characters, or you could even call and talk to the parents and find out what color they are planning for the nursery to match your quilt to the theme of the room.
Making a quilt takes some time and effort. You may want to get started as soon as you find out your loved one is having a baby. This will leave you plenty of time to get the quilt done, and contact other family members who want to be involved in the project.
I know the quilt baby blanket gift we received holds a very dear spot in our hearts. It is a family treasure, and although we use it now, I may be tempted to put it away and save it for when my daughter has a baby.
