Welcome from Newfoundland, Canada!! You will receive lots of great help and ideas here!!! and yes have paper towels on hand when viewing fabrics online and in stores.... You will find yourself wanting to bring them all home!

It is sounding like you have the bug. I warned you.

Starting supplies I would recommend are a cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler.

Decide on your pattern. There are plenty out there.

Let us know what you decide and we'll help you from there or come back with a couple choices and we will help you decide.

Heres my question, To use a design will I have to only use a few of the baby clothes I have saved? In my mind I was thinking of using all different squares of my sons baby clothes in just squares, not in real design because wouldnt that limit me to use justa few pieces of clothing with minimum patterns and colors? What about just all different squares in no particular pattern?? no??

Thanks for your input! It is to be more sentimental and cozy that a design to admire.

Hi and welcome from Mass. Congrats.

There are many different designs and patterns that use small pieces of many different fabrics. Sometimes they are called "scrap quilts" also "Fat quarter quilts" will use several different fabrics. There are so many options, you could make all the squares one size, say a 4 or 5 or even 6 inch each and use a couple of each fabric or even 1 of each fabric in the quilt. The borders can even be pieced with a lot of different fabrics. Another option would be to do a 4 patch with a 1 patch in between each. Hope fully some of the patterns that the others have posted will give you some ideas. Most of the quilts I make I use many different fabrics in, I like that look.

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Welcome newnana.

I love your idea, and my advice for your first quilt is to keep it simple.
I like your idea of a charm quilt using your cut up baby clothes. How special.. one question, are you piecing by hand or machine?

The size of your squares is going to depend on what you can get efficiently from the clothes.. Im thinking maybe 3 inch squares would be good..but for you to decide.

One way of getting a truly scrappy look with your various blocks is to cut them all and drop into a grocery sack..can you even get those anymore..lol

mix them all up and then just reach in and grab them one at a time and sew them into rows... use what you grab...unless it is the same as the previous one.. It takes some guts but you end up with a truly srappy quilt.

Hope this helps..what every you decide, it will be great

Judy

Hi, Welcome.

Is this quilt to wrap the baby in papoose style - or burrito style? (Hope I'm not offending anyone here) Then square works well. 36 to 45 inches.

Or is it to go in/on a crib - then maybe 45 x 60?

Or in a bassinet? Don't have any idea for sizes there.

I preferred square receiving blankets for my babies - but that was when the dinosaurs still walked the earth and before onesies.

Thanks Judy!

I pulled out all my sons baby clothes and Im able to cut 5" squares, I figure by the time I seam them together they will still be pretty small squares. Thanks for your encouragement on it being a good idea and that it will look good as well. I have a machine , so will using it make the quilt more durable ? I am wondering just how many of the "Quilters tools" I have to purchase , while this will probably not be the Only quilt I make , there will certainly be a stretch of time before I make another.
( I guess) I may be hooked!! Im really excited about this one!
I have found a website ( recommended by someone on here!) that gives beginners instructions , but I do think I like being told each step by an experienced quilter in laymen terms :) All I have done so far is cut out 15 of my 5" squares!

you are welcome nana...

you need to determine how many you will need...

you will be sewing your blocks together with a 1/4 inch seam
so your 5 inch blocks will end up 4 1/2

so, devide the width and length you want by 4 1/2 and round either up or down, your choice so that you have an even number..then multiply the number in the width x the numbr in the lenght.. giving you the needed number of squares... heres and example...
if you want to make it abt 36 x 45..

36 / 4.5 = 8, 45 / 4.5 = 11.7 so you can do 11 or 12...

8 x 11 = 88 thats the number you need.

Get them all cut out and we will talk again.