I was recently invited to a baby shower and so I made a few nice, big square, flannel receiving blankets, and some quilted burp cloths.  Since the mom was registered online, I took a peeked at the nursery items to get a feel for the theme and color choices.

For each blanket, I used 1 1/4 yards of 44" wide flannel and cut the largest possible square out of it.  After washing, the receiving blankets were about  38"x38".  I put a radius on the corners and used the rolled hem on my serger to finish the edges  Since this is going to be a summer baby, they are only one layer.  I don't know why so many  of the receiving blankets sold in the stores are rectangular.  Swaddling a baby with one of those just never works out quite right.

For the burp cloths, I did my best to duplicate some pads that I had when my kids were babies.  These were lightweight, soft, absorbent, quited and super handy.  Not only did these pads make nice burp cloths, but they were great to place under the baby in the crib or bassinet to catch the leaking fluids and save me from changing the sheet six times a day.  I'm not a big  fan of the flannel burp cloths.  I think that the spit-up has a tendency to just roll off rather than get absorbed.  So, I used diaper cotton (made in the USA) and white, Warm & Natural batting.  I cut them about 11 1/2" by 18" and put a radius on each corner.  I just did a square grid quilting pattern on them (about 3"x3") and finished off the edges with a three thread overlock on the serger.  These aren't fancy, but they will be just perfect when "Spit Happens".  




I made little tags with info and care instructions for the blankets and burp cloths.  The yellow basket is compliments of Mom.  She brought cookies over on Easter in it, and with her permission I am using it instead of buying a gift bag.