Simple Baby Quilt

I have been wanting to make something wonderful and special for Lucy. I know I have decorated her room, spent time trying to find nice toys, hopefully bought her cute clothes, and those things are all nice, but I have been really wanting to make something for her that is completely hers. Because lets face it.... decorating the nursery and dressing up the kid is done more for us than it is for them. I wanted her to have something she wouldn't have to pass down or grow out of. So, I decided I wanted to make her a blanket. Something that she would truly like, something spunky and with a little twist. But then I ran into a problem.... um..well... I don't really know how to sew all too well.
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Almost everything that I have made in my life I have had my mom right there helping me. So when I lost the thread or sewed the seam in wrong or sewed my shirt to the fabric..... true story, mommy was also there to fix it :) So, instead of making a wonderful, one of a kind, ahead-of-its-time blanket, I went for fast and simple. Touching... I know! :)

So here is my tutorial for a cute, but simple blanket. All you need is...

3 different patterned fabrics (two for the squares -light pink and dark pink - and one for your item that will be sewn on the squares - green)
Thread
Quilt Padding
Stencil Of A Shape or Item (for sewing on the squares)
Yarn for tying
Pins
Fabric Cutting Scissors

First you need to decide how big you want the blanket. I decided that I wanted it big enough to last her most of her childhood, not just a baby blanket, but not a full sized quilt either. I wanted it to be easy enough for her to drag around the house wherever she goes, so she doesn't have to lug it. I cut out a 7x7 square out of card stock for my template. I then proceeded to cut out 30 squares out of the fabric (15 of each color, light & dark pink). Once you have the squares cut out put them to the side.

Then you need to make a template for the item that will go over the squares. I chose a star, I found a template free online easily or you can go to your local library and find a sewing/craft book; they have soooo many templates in the back of those books for you to use. Once you have a nice template cut out, cut 15 stars/items from your fabric that you will be attaching to the squares.
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Now you can go ahead and sew one star per square, just make sure that you sew the 15 stars consistently to the same color of square fabric. Use a Satin Stitch on your sewing machine to sew the stars on, make sure you are tracing the complete edge of the star; make sure the edge of the star land hald way through the stich. You shouldn't be able to see the edge of the star at all.
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Once you have all the stars sewn on, go ahead and start sewing all the squares together row by row. Since you have cut the squares out 7x7, you can sew the squares together with a 1/2 inch seam. You will have 6 rows of 5 squares attached. Once you have all 6 seperate rows, start sewing the rows together, make sure that the squares on each row are lining up. Again, sew the rows together giving a 1/2 inch seam, so by the time you have attached all the rows the squares should now be 6x6.

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Now here come the sandwich part. From the fabric you have left over, from either color, cut out the back of the blanket. Make sure that it is bigger then the quilted part.... it should have 1-2 inches lay over on each side, top and bottom. Lay the backing down, the quilt padding in the middle, and the quilted part on top. Take the matching yarn you picked out and use it to sew/tie all the layers together. You can either tie the yarn right in the middle of the other squares or in the corners where the squares all meet.

When you have tied all the layers together, you can now fold the bottom layer up to make the border. You can hand sew this anyway you like, just make sure you sew the border in about 1/2 inch deep to help keep all the squares looking the same size, having that 6x6 look. And voila.... your blanket is done.

I hope these instructions are easy enough to follow, I was planning on taking pictures during the whole process, but my camera died and I couldn't find the charger. I am planning on going back and making a PDF file so you can download and print a easy step by step template when I make another one for my niece. But it really is quite simple so have fun! :)