I have made them - more than 40 years ago! When I was pregnant in 1969 with my second child, I bought $8 worth of flannel at 33 cents per yard - that's 24 yards!!! at Montgomery Wards and made myself a whole layette from it. I made receiving blankets, and all kinds of other baby clothes, assembly-line fashion. Then two days before the baby was born (already a week overdue) my husband got orders for us to move to Hawaii. The baby was well over 9 pounds at birth, already grown out of many of the things I had made, and most of the clothing was too warm for Hawaii anyway. But that's not what you asked. I don't remember stitching through the middle of the flannel blankets, and I had never heard of quilting at that time, so I probably didn't. I also made receiving blankets from seersucker, and those were the best! Big and soft and lightweight. I used them for that baby and for the next two also. The most important thing with receiving blankets, in my opinion, is to make them large enough, and have plenty.