When I started learning how to sew almost 5 years ago, I remember gazing at photos of beautiful quilts that resembled pieces of art. And I thought, “I’ll make those someday! You just wait and see.” Then reality kicked in and I realized I’m all about the instant gratification that comes with garment sewing, and thus a month long project filled with hundreds of little pieces was never going to be my forte. That being said, I do still love the idea of making a quilt for a new baby. A special something that is just for him or her. A handmade gift they can treasure for years to come. A nice blankie where they can throw up and have poop explosions and their mom and dad will think of me each time.
So when my dear friends Jason and Laura announced they were having a baby girl, I got right to it. Their baby had been given the nickname “bebe” early on in the pregnancy, so when I saw this fabric from The Little Ivie Cloth Co at Spoonflower. com, I had to have it! Rather than actually quilting together different fabrics, I decided to order a large panel size of the “Hello Bebe” print and let that fabric do the talking. Literally. Like, hey bebe, how YOU doing? Oh you know, just learning how to hold my head up and digest breast milk. Ain’t no thing. 
Anyways, like I was saying, I never quilt. In fact, this is only my second time making a baby blanket, following the quilt I made Liam when he was born. So I am by no means a quilter and if you are on the hunt for true tips on quilting, I would advice you go here, here, or here. But if you want a keeping-it-real quilt story, you’ve come to the right place. All you need for this project is a sewing machine, two large pieces of fabric (I used a quilting cotton and a minky fabric), double fold bias tape, coordinating thread, basting spray/glue (optional), and a whole lot of love. 
How to make your quilt:
Step 1: Iron your fabric pieces and line them up WRONG sides together. This is where you have the option of using basting spray to hold the pieces together, which can really come in handy.
Step 2: Trim the salvage edges (thats the piece on the side that has the manufacturer label) and any excess fabric, for example if you have one piece of fabric that is larger than the other.
Step 3: “quilt” your fabric. This is where you can go crazy and do whatever you want. I am a simple gal who does not have a fancy quilting arm on my machine, so I just sewed lines going vertically and horizontally across the fabrics, equal in size, which created medium size rectangles. You could make your lines closer together or further apart. Or use a fancy stitch on your machine to add some flare. Tips: Use a nice top stitching thread and increase the stitch length a little.
Step 4: Using pins to hold in place, add your bias taping to the edges of the fabric, sandwiching in both the front and back pieces of fabric in between the bias tape.
Step 5: Sew the bias tape in place. I like to use a fun curvy stitch just to add a little bit of design and also ensure that the stitch picks up both the bias tape and the fabric. Give it another good run on the old ironing board and you are done! 
I threw in some coordinating burp cloths with the extra fabric and bought some cute leggings to go along with the theme of “cute bebe girl who I hope likes floral print.” 🙂 
xxoo Priscilla
