To me, there is one gift that I love to give when a baby is born. A quilt. My babies all had blankets made for them…they had their favorites that they carried around and couldn’t sleep without, so when Kimbo from A Girl and A Glue Gun asked me to participate in the Luke’s Loves Blanket Drive, I knew I could get behind it.
So today I am going to tell you about a quirky and fun quilt I just made that I am calling my Mixed Up Block Quilt. I love making traditional quilts as well, but for this one, I wanted to take a bunch of “leftover” fabric that I had and make it work into a fun baby quilt.
I started out by making 24 blocks that were 8″ x 4″. I sewed the blocks all the same…and then cut them all apart!
I don’t really have a Do or Don’t rules list for you. I just kept cutting and then sewing it back on backwards or on the opposite side until I liked the block. They all ended back up at 8″ x 4″. After squaring them up, I sewed them together. The strips were not a uniform size. Some were 3″, some were 4″ and some were 2″. The different sizes make them so fun!
I finished the quilt off with a 2 1/2″ border and used a gold bias tape for the binding. Instead of filling it with batting, I used a piece of flannel, because I don’t know about you, but I love to swaddle my babies up and find batting can make the blanket too thick sometimes. You can really do as you prefer!
I loved the gold dot binding that I found at Hobby Lobby. It was a perfect backing.
Before binding it, I quilted it simply by sewing straight lines every 3 inches. It really couldn’t be simpler.
And all folded up, it just reminds me of how excited I am to give it so that a new sweet baby can be wrapped up and snuggled just as I wrapped each of mine up. It really kind of brings tears to my eyes when I think about what a special time that is.
So to recap.
1-Grab your leftover fabric. Cut it into strips. (they don’t have to be the same size)
2- Sew into 4″x8″ blocks.
3- Cut and Sew until you like the variety in the blocks
4- Square those blocks back up to 4″x8″.
5- Sew them together to form your quilt.
6- Add a 2 1/2″ border.
7- Quilt it. I did straight lines every 3″.
8- Add the binding.
9- Send it off to Luke’s Love Blanket Drive!
You can also take a look at these other blankets that have been linked up to this amazing cause and feel free to link up your blankets as wel:
Hope you find a minute to check out this awesome cause and if you find time to make a blanket, know you will feel that great love that comes from giving!
I love it so much! the gold is just like sprinkles an awesome cupcake! You are amazing!
OMG one of the most drooling quilt project I’ve seen this year! That gold bias tape completed the look and really made this quilt so pretty. Pinning. TFS;)
Kiki TFS! The way you use your left over fabric for this quilt is awesome. I truly appreciate the purpose of this quilt. I tried to open Luke’s Loves Blanket Drive link, but it is not working for me. Anyhow, i loved this amazing quilt.
XoXo,
Sara