Baby Blanket Part 1: Planning

The first thing I do when I’m planning a baby blanket is take a look at the fabric I already have. This usually results in me going to the store to buy more. After that task is done, it is time to design the blanket.

Most baby blankets I have done are thirty-four inch squares. Why this arbitrary number, you ask? Well, a crib sized blanket is 34x48 inches, and from what I have seen, this is too large for little hands to carry once they are toddlers, but the shorter square seems to be just right. That, and I have also seen a lot of these blankets used as wall hangings when they get older, in which case, a square is easier to hang than a rectangle, especially when taking furniture into account. Of course, the real reason is because I got a really good deal on 36” muslin and crib-sized cotton batting years ago when my first nephew was born, and utilized that on the first eight baby blankets I made.

Usually I have my fabric choices picked out before I start the design process, but sometimes, I start the design process and build around that. Either way works. I usually find it easier to design something around the fabric, than try to find fabric to go with the design. Drawing out the design, and don’t worry about scale, I can get a rough sense of what the quilt may look like. Nearly all of my baby blankets share the same traits: They are 34” square; they have 4” square corners, surrounded by a 4” border between, and sometimes more squares beside the corners; they have a 26” square center; they have a large appliquéd insect or animal in the center; they are backed with plain, natural muslin; they have a hand embroidered original character insect on the back; they have the child’s name embroidered under the bug; they have my signature name embroidered in the lower right-hand corner.

Once the design is finalized, I start placing different fabrics in various places on a table to get an idea of what fabrics will go where. Most of the time I have an idea, but until I start putting them side-by-side, I don’t know if it’ll work. With the one I’m working on now, I ended up not using two of the fabrics I bought for this project because I couldn’t figure out a place to put them, and that is okay because I did use two fabrics I already had, both of which were leftovers from other baby blankets. Once you have all your fabric choices and placements figured out, it is time to move on to the next step…

Come back tomorrow for Baby Blanket Part 2: Patterns & Piecing.