Free Tutorials...

http://www.freespiritfabric.com/
Anna Maria Horner, Annette Tatum, Denyse Schmidt, Heather Bailey, Erin McMorris, Tanya Whelan, Tina Givens, Valori Wells and on and on....Each fabric line puts out a free downlodable quilt pattern.  Take a look and go to stash and whip up some of these beauties!

Quilting for Linus....

I missed my day to quilt with my Linus group, so I quilted for Linus at home instead.  I have been making quilts for the teenage boys, but today I looked at the seersucker and flannel and got the warm fuzzies to make a baby quilt.

We all want to make the girlie or newborn quilts, but I could not help myself.  So the flannel started flying and off I went...

These are very simple quilts to make, and are so adorable.  I want to run out and borrow someone's baby and wrap it up. 

After I was almost finished, I got the bright idea to try my hand at a tutorial (my first). 

Bearing in mind I decided to do a tutorial for this quilt after I had almost finished, the pics are a little strange, but here 'tis.

You will probably need:

1/2 yard of each fabric plus a little extra for the border, and 1 yard each of the backing flannel and the batting.  Scraps are great or you can get a charm pack of baby prints and make a bunch of quilts. 

1.  Cut squares (I used 5" squares of each fabric) to make a simple four patch using two fabrics.   I like to use soft cotton or, in this case, seersucker.  

2. Sew them together for the top to make whatever size you like, newborn, baby or floor.

3.  Add a border.

4.  Cut backing of some adorable baby flannel print a couple of inches larger than your quilt top and do the same with your batting.

5. At this point I like to sew the backing to the front of the quilt, right sides together with 1/4" inch seam all round the quilt leaving 6 or so inches open for turning.  Then layer as follows:  batting, backing up and quilt top down.  Sew around remembering to leave that open space.  

6.  Turn the whole thing inside out, pin the opening closed, press and whip stitch closed.  Sew around the outside with a scant 1/4".  

7.  Quilt or tie as you prefer, be sure to put a label on and give to that Mama-to-be.