Kitschdesigns

Crafting: Baby Quilts

March 10, 2010 04:32 by ehouston

As many of you know from browsing my shops I have created some simple baby quilts using reproduction vintage fabrics from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, along with a few from actual vintage fabrics. 

SQ-All-Angle-Yellow (3)

Simple Striped Baby Quilts from reproduction fabrics.

VQ-Airplanes

Vintage fabric baby quilt with Airplane design.

Since the arrival of the Little Guy I have received many emails asking which of my quilts I used for his nursery, or did I make something special for his space?  FINALLY, I am getting around to answering ‘what inquiring minds want to know’.  You all may remember that I noted in a previous nursery DIY post here that I was unable to make the bedding for the nursery due to the tight time frame of moving, getting settled and the baby’s due date.  This was a pretty sad situation for me considering I had always dreamed of being “that mom”.  The one that made all kinds of things for their child starting with their first bed set.  It’s funny, as a child I can remember dreaming of this scenario, but never once do I remember thinking about or planning my wedding as so many young girls do.  Weird, huh?  Anyway, I was bummed about not having the time to create the cool textiles for his room, but I was able to find something that fit the bill for a hip  mod look.

Nursery-BeddingWithBumper

The cozy crib with Ticklicious Bedding.

Fortunately, years ago I did have the foresight to set aside one of my favorite handmade quilts.  In the back of my mind I envisioned that one day I would have a little boy and I would decorate his room with a retro rocket/space theme.  Flash forward a few years and nursery decor actually trended toward this theme in a really cute way.  Flash forward again to the time of my pregnancy and I suddenly wanted less of a theme and more of an overall “look”.  Something that could transition with few changes from baby to toddler to little boy.  I think we hit the mark pretty well with our playful circle paint treatment and we are quite happy with how the nursery turned out. 

Now back to the handmade quilt that I WAS able to share with my Little Guy.  As I wrote above, this is a piece that I actually created several years ago.  However, when I would attend a craft fair, show my stock to friends and family for gifts, or post items in my online shops I always held this one back.  Initially I was unsure of why I kept it aside, then I thought it was because I only had a tiny bit of the rocket fabric left, finally I realized I thought I wanted a vintage spacey theme for my possible future child’s room and this was a perfect starter piece.  The rest you all know and shortly before his arrival I pulled it out and laid it on the floor to admire it. 

VQ-Spaceship

Even though his room was not a space theme and the colors were not a match to anything else in our home I knew it was the perfect size for clean and cozy playtime on the floor any where we go. 

VQ-CU-Spacship

Plus, I had to face it, the vintage fabrics just make me (and the Little Dictator) smile.  One other thing I recently noticed, now that he is really starting to touch and feel things, is that I could not have picked a better combo of textiles for a learning baby.  It has both visual and tactile fun since the vintage rocket fabric is seersucker (bumpy for those of you that are not in the know on this) and the blue polka-dot fabric is flocked (fuzzy or felted).  Then of course, the vintage red polka-dot and blue constellation fabrics, along with the newer mod oval backing fabric add nice geometric patterns for visual interest.  (Bonus- the constellation fabric actually glows in the dark if held to the light for a while).  Couldn’t ask for more in a baby quilt and I hope he grows to love this one as much as I have.

Tell me about your simple baby gift designs, or nursery bedding sets.  Have any of you created something from scratch to outfit your little one’s room, or play area?  Have you used new, vintage or a combo of fabrics for these projects?  Did it start as a gift and end up in your home?  I love to hear from you guys, so do tell!

Kitsch Krafts


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