Baby quilts can be the perfect Baby Shower gift and homemade baby quilts are the best!
My baby quilts use good, high quality cotton fabric and polyester batting for durability, higher loft, warmth, and washability. Some quilts may use cotton batting, but they will be more expensive and not as cuddly. I use cotton batting in larger, hand quilted blankets for beds, but polyester is much better for baby quilts that will be washed over and over again. The polyester batting will maintain its loft much better over repeated washings.
Lately I have been thinking about these quilts, not only as something to keep them warm, but also something to help them learn. It is important to give these little ones lots of good experiences to get those brain cells working right. The bright colors can help, but I have also began to tell the mothers about some educational games they can engage their young children in. Just the other day I read an article in the New York Times about how it is now known that children can learn math concepts at a much younger age than previously thought. It is important to begin early and my homemade baby quilts can help!
The cost of a quilt is mostly determined by three factors: The complexity of the design, the cost of the materials, and the cost of "overhead" expenses.
Quilts that use small squares are more complex and it requires more time to construct the quilt. Arranging the pieces in complex ways also increases the time required to make the quilt. The type of binding used around the edge of the quilt can also make a difference in the amount of time needed to make the quilt. The simplest quilts take at least two and a half hours of dedicated time to design and construct. The more complex quilts can take much longer.
The cost of the fabric, batting, thread, etc. are factors that must be accounted for. The cost of fabric can vary due to quality and design. I use good, high quality cotton fabric. A larger quilt will, of course, cost more to make than a smaller quilt. My baby quilts generally use eight ounce per yard, polyester batting due to its durability, higher loft, warmth, and washability. My least expensive quilts typically require twenty four dollars for materials. This cost is different for each quilt, but it is fixed for that quilt.
Overhead expenses include working space (physical and virtual), sewing machines, cutters, and other tools needed to construct the quilts. We also include taxes, shipping, and credit card processing fees in our overhead expenses. These are somewhat fixed costs and don't vary much from quilt to quilt. We have determined this cost to average around fourteen dollars per quilt.