How to Make a Patchwork Quilt From Baby Clothes

Preserving the memory of your child as an infant is important to many families. Making a quilt can be a loving and useful way to save those treasured times.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Infant or child's clothing
• Sewing thread
• Sewing machine
• Rotary cutting tool
• Cutting mat
• Woven fabric
• Bias tape
• Iron
• Ironing board
• Safety pins
• Batting

1. Collect enough baby clothes to cut out 64 six inch squares. If the clothing is knit, you will also need a woven to back the squares. If you do not have enough baby clothing, supplement with a printed woven cotton fabric.

2. 
   Quilt Block Cutting

   Place the baby clothes on a rotary cutting mat and cut out the quilt blocks. Cut around any buttons or embroidery. And preserve any special or appealing hemlines. You can mount squares with holes or odd edges to a plain woven quilt block.

3. KNIT FABRICS ONLY: if using knit fabrics, press squares flat and true them up after pressing, then baste to a plain woven fabric.

4. 
   Quilt Strips

   If desired, arrange squares in eight rows and eight columns. Otherwise, just place them right sides together at random and stitch together with one half inch seam allowances to create eight square strips.

5. 
   Baby Clothes Quilt Blocks

   Press seams open on the strips and block them. Check them against a quilt ruler to be certain they are now five inches across each block one way and six the other.

6. 
   Baby Clothes Quilt Top

   Place two strips right sides together and line up the seams. Stitch. Repeat until you have pieced together all strips.

7. 
   Quilt Block in Embroidery Hoop

   Hand stitch any imperfections closed. Any stains or holes can be covered with appliques or embroidery. This is easiest to accomplish using an embroidery hoop.

8. Lay the quilt top on top of a woven fabric, and batting to form the quilt sandwich. Pin through all layers, beginning at the middle and working toward the edge. Make certain that the fabric and quilt top are right side out.

9. Bind the quilt with bias tape.

10. Use yarn or embroidery floss to tie off each quilt square in the corners.

Tips & Warnings

• Pre-shrink all fabrics.
• Press clothing and fabrics prior to cutting for the most precise blocks.
• Be cautious of fabrics that ravel.
• Consider using a walking foot, to prevent the quilt strips from bunching up while sewing.

Resources

• How to Make Bias Tape
• How to Apply Bias Tape