Create a One of a Kind Family Heirloom: Make a Quilt Out of Baby Clothes

Quilt making can be a fun hobby for the entire family, and no quilt is more personal than one crafted from old baby clothes. Crafting a one-of-a-kind quilt with baby clothes gives parents a creative new use for those precious keepsakes. Such a quilt can easily be handed down through the generations as a priceless heirloom, with each successive generation adding a new chapter to the ongoing family story.

Be Creative

The best quilts are the ones that tell a story, and the story inherent in a baby clothes quilt is obvious. It pays to be creative when designing your quilt, and it is a good idea to lay everything out before you do a single stitch. Begin by gathering those baby clothes that are most significant in the life of your family. Special items of clothing, like a First Communion dress or the clothes your new baby wore home from the hospital, can get your baby clothes quilt off to a good start. Some quilters may want to have the quilt tell a sequential story, with newborn clothes giving way to infant clothes giving way to toddler clothes. Others may prefer to mix the baby clothes to create an interesting pattern, or mix the colors to create a quilt with more eye appeal. There is no right or wrong way to create this special memory-the only limit is your imagination (and your supply of baby clothes). You can sew each piece of clothing together as is, or you can intersperse those baby clothes with traditional quilting materials in vibrant colors Those baby clothes-and the memories they represent— can be further enhanced with special items like rattles, pacifiers and other reminders of happy times.

Get Every Member of the Family Involved

One of the best things about using old baby clothes to create a quilt is that the project brings back memories for every member of the family. Making the baby clothes quilt project into a family project brings the family closer together to share stories and memories Some families may even want to create a companion scrapbook to go with the quilt. This scrapbook may contain pictures of the children in the family actually wearing the clothes that will make up the quilt. This memory book provides an excellent resource for future generations, and it certainly helps to enhance and reinforce the story told by the quilt itself. One of the challenging things about this type of quilt is that it uses materials not normally associated with quilting. One way to accommodate the unusual nature of the baby clothes is to start with traditional quilting materials and add the baby clothes as highlights. Sewing those special pieces of baby clothes on to the material will provide a lovely highlight and help to tell the story of your family.

Use the Finished Quilt to Tell a Story

One appealing aspect of the baby clothes quilt is the story can go on and on. Parents can create a small quilt for each of their children that contains their special baby clothes, or they can create a master quilt that combines the baby clothes from every member of the family. These large quilts can go on and on as they are handed down from generation to generation. Each new parent in the family can add his or her own special memories to the quilt, providing a story that goes on and on. Quilts have long been used to tell stories, and using old baby clothes to tell the story of your family certainly honors that special tradition.

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