baby quilts

this subject has come up a couple times lately and i shared what i do with a friend and she loved the idea, so i'm posting it here to share with y'all!

we all have a go-to pattern when someone we know is expecting a baby. i used to use a simple 9-patch with a setting square in colors that the mother requested. then i got a better idea....i'm making a quilt for the baby- not the mom...

my go-to quilt now is an alphabet quilt made with novelty fabrics that feature something that starts with each letter of the alphabet . i have boy themed fabrics (snails/bugs/etc) and girl themed fabric (ballerina/cupcakes/etc) and for the unknown gender- i use all animals and food. you can use the sashing and borders to coordinate the quilt to the nursery colors to make mom happy...i've been collecting for over 10 years so i have a nice stash to pull from.

with access the the internet finding fabrics is so much easier than it use to be. from experience I, J, K, L, Q, U, V and Z are the hardest letters to find but some creative google searches have yielded some great fabrics. i buy a yard or more of the hard to find letters, and i buy 1/2 yard of the easier to find letters. one of my favorites is my zucchini fabric...i stay away from ones that have a silent first letter- like GNOME. imagine trying to explain to a kid why it starts with a G, but you don't say it...

here's a simple .pdf of how i go about it

Alphabet Quilt Instructions

in the four corners i use a fabric that has letters on it, a nice graphic black and white print, or a fabric with a simple design (like dots). if you make the quilt after the birth you could add the baby's name and birthday to those squares....

my favorite thing about this quilt is that it can be used long term. it is a improved version of a Ispy quilt, but can be used long term for learning...i like to fantasize that i'm helping nurture future geniuses.