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Easy Baby Quilt Patterns - Baby Quilt Patterns for New Quilters

By Janet Wickell, About.com

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Introduction to Easy Baby Quilts

baby quilts

Both of these easy baby quilts are made by sewing 5-inch squares side by side.

© Janet Wickell
I receive lots of Email from brand new quilters, and a good portion of the notes are from new grandmothers who want to make a quilt for a grandchild. Some of them haven't decide if they will make other quilts, so they aren't ready to learn all the ins-and-outs of quilting or purchase loads of tools for an all-out attack on the craft.

If you're a member of that crowd, you'll be happy to know that there are indeed many easy baby quilt patterns, including these quilts, made from squares. You won't even need to learn quick-piecing methods, because we'll simply arrange our squares side by side and then sew them together with a quarter-inch seam allowance.

Even if you have made a few other quilts, playing with individual squares is an excellent way to become familiar with color value, and value is important, because it controls the pattern that emerges when your patches are sewn together.

This is one (rare) occasion when it's acceptable if your seam allowance isn't absolutely perfect. Come as close as you can, but as long as the seam allowance is consistent, your sewn squares will fit together like they should.

Before you being, read:

Cutting 5-inch Squares

If you have rotary cutting equipment, cut long strips of fabric, each 5-inches wide. Cut 5-inch squares from each long strip.

If you prefer to cut with scissors, begin by cutting a 5-inch square from rigid template plastic. Use a light or dark pencil or permanent marker to draw around the square onto fabric, butting shapes next to each other. Cut out.

You might not have to cut at all. Many quilt and fabric shops sell assortments of precut 5-inch squares. Fabric.com offers a few in their assortments area, and so do other quilt shops.

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