Shades of Blue - Quilted Baby Gifts

Gifts For a New Baby Mama

Hello and happy Monday!

Hubby and I will welcome a new grandson into the family in March 2023!

I wanted/needed to make something for our new little man, the parents chose a modern color scheme using navy and gray.

Once I had the colors, I ordered a 7 fat quarter bundle and yardage of Nice Ice Baby, a collection by Deena Rutter for Riley Blake, from Simply Fabrics on Etsy. Nice Ice is a beautiful collection in shades of blue with really cute polar bears and narwhals.

Baby Bib and Burp Cloth

My favorite gift item to make for babies are bibs and burp cloths.

I cut the Nice Ice fat quarters into 40 - 3.5 inch squares to create a patchwork bib and burp cloth. 16 squares for the bib and 24 squares for the burp cloth.

After quilting the patchwork, I used my own patterns to cut out the bib and burp cloths.

If you are wanting to make your own similar patchwork bib and burp cloth, Caroline at SewCanShe.com has a tutorial and free downloadable pattern, you can find it Here.

I used a navy cotton chenille fabric to back both the bib and burp cloth.

Diaper Clutch

Another useful handmade gift for new parents is a diaper clutch. Since I purchased the fabric without a plan — I was working on the fly with the small amount of fabric I had. Sometimes when I’m under pressure I do my best “creating”.

I took a couple of diapers and package of wipes I had on hand to determine the size needed for an envelope styled clutch.

I then cut strips from 6 of the fat quarters to get the desired size. I sewed the strips together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, prepared a quilt sandwich, and did some simple wavy lined quilting.

After trimming the excess batting and backing, I put the diapers back in to determine where the fold should be.

The folded area becomes the pocket. I added binding to the pocket, then added a basting stitch on the sides, to make it easier when adding the final binding.

Once the pocket was bound, I curved the edges on the top piece and used a package of double fold bias tape binding to complete the clutch.

Lastly, I added a strip of sew in Velcro and hand sewed a button on the front.

Voila a handy diaper clutch!

Stroller or Car Quilt

I was introduced to the Nice Ice Fabric collection watching a video tutorial by Amanda Castor with Material Girls Quilts.

Amanda used a charm pack to create a beautiful half square triangle (hst) Baby quilt. I chose to use a diamond shaped hst layout for baby Stephen’s stroller/car quilt, which allowed me to embroider his initials in the center of the quilt. I used a gray Minky fabric on the back and flannel for the batting.

Changing Pad

With the remaining strips of the Nice Ice Fat Quarters, I sewed them together with a quarter inch seam. Created a quilt sandwich with the pieced top, flannel for batting and water proof fabric as the backing. I did some simple echo quilting along the seams, trimmed the excess flannel and backing, sewed 2 pieces of ribbon on one end and bound the pad. Again, no pattern only vision! In the end the changing pas was probably larger than needed, but it folds up really nicely!

Personalized Clothing

My son (baby’s daddy) graduated from University of Michigan in 2010 and my gift would not be complete without some Michigan gear.

I used my Cricut Joy to create the decals for the baby bodysuits, and banded a Gerber diaper with a strip of cotton fabric showcasing the Michigan logos, using my embroidery I machined appliquéd the letter “S” and embroidered his name on the burp cloth.

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share these gift ideas!

Until next time happy sewing/crafting!