Baby Z Blanket

This was the most time consuming and complicated of my sewing projects yet, but also the most rewarding.  It is by no means a proper quilt, but I am glad that I started with something simple.  Sewing the squares and rectangles together must be done with precision, and if you are just a teensy bit off…you will pay dearly when you go to sew the entire thing together.  I also have decided that I hate sewing batting.  Maybe I just don’t know the tricks, but it isn’t something I want to mess with again.

This is not the best looking baby blanket, but I think it looks pretty cute.  And as long as no one washes it, dries it, or uses it, then it will probably stay stitched together!  The idea for this came from Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter.  My sister Lisa showed me this book while I was visiting her in June.  The projects are adorable, and don’t seem too difficult.  The instructions are easy to follow, which is nice for an amateur like me.

The first step is to cut your pieces.  All of them need to be 8 inches wide, and as long or short as you want.  Sew together the pieces so that you have 4 8-inch wide strips that are at least 34 inches in length.  Then, sew all the strips together to create the front of the blanket.

Then you sew the back of the quilt to the batting, sew the front of the quilt to the back inside out leaving a 6 inch opening on one side.  Turn the blanket inside out, and sew the opening closed.

To finish the blanket, I stitched along each individual piece which made my errors in measurement more apparent, but also made the blanket seem more finished and put together.  Overall, I’m pleased with the blanket and it made me a little giddy to put in the crib and think that in about 4 months we’ll put Baby Z in there!