I am a week old Grandma today, and all the doctors, nurses, etc, last week stressed the fact of having nothing in the crib, but do swaddle the baby tight in the receiving blanket while in the crib. The quilts and blankets will have plenty of uses until they are old enough to sleep with them.
It is amazing how we all did survive without all the "technology" they now have. Especially now everyone has a monitor even down here in Florida where most of the homes are one story!

Being the mother of three little one (oldest being 5 and youngest being 2 month) I will add my two cents. It`s true that these days there is quite overwhelming recommandations regarding newborn (and children in general) and we all end up thinking at one point that we all survived even if we didn't follow these rules. But these recommandations are given because tragic incidents happened to somebody somewhere. Even if one child on a million ends up being strangled with his/her blanket in his/her crib, we will all agree it`s too much. I must say that it happen two time to my babies when they were small to have their head wrapped up in a blanket. It was always in a situation where I was not following my usual sleep routine (like at a friend's house, where the baby falled asleep in my arm wrapped in a blanket, and I had put her or him in a playpen). Nothing happened because I was in the next room and checking on them. But because you can't be sure to be always there at the right moment, you don't want to take any chance.
Now, one have also to use some common sense and his/her knowledge of the baby's habit. When my babies are small, I like to put a quilt folded on the lower part of their body (from the waist to the toes). Flannel or fleece receiving blankets are too lightweight to be safetly put on a crib because the baby can grab it with his/her small arm, but quilt are heavy and don't move. I also feel safe to put a quilt in a crib and put my baby to sleep on it (because of the weight, it will not move). You may not want to do this with a piece of art, but a quilt is so absorbant that it will "drink" any pee incident and you just have to toss it. It`s so convenient not to have to change a crib sheet at 3 AM!
Quilts are also very usefull like everybody said to serve as play mat, changing pad, car blanket, etc. My daughter is 5 years old and she have not be a single day without her quilt since she is born.

Tesspug, thank you for the post. Have found some great ideas. Love the sweater blanket (I knew I would have a use for the extra sweaters I have been keeping).

Make quilts for newborns just big enough to cover them, but not the bed is what I did.

Yeah how did we survive? My kids are in their late thirties and they survived too. The baby quilt can be for outings and to save for later years. I agree with keeping things out of the crib.

Here is the label I put on one of the quilts I gifted: a gentle reminder that it was made to be used on the floor, outside etc, but USED.

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I've made many baby quilt in the last 30 years and some of those babies have graduated college this year, a couple have passed them down. Maybe someone should make him a quilt.....lol!!!

Its amazing how science, medicine and technology has so changed us as a human species. My kids were on their tummy's, had small quilts, afghans for sleeping. Used a sleep sac sort of (the one where its a nightgown and ties at the bottom). Had mittens for their hands at night so they didn't scratch themselves. Fed them real infant rice cereal before they were 3 months old; so they would sleep through the nights. Amazing .. we all lived through it ...
My parents never had a child seat for me, I used to sleep in the back of the station wagon when we went on vacations.

But alas so much has changed since my childhood; my kids' childhood and my granddaughters childhood and will continue to change for many years as Science and Medicine becomes more progressive.

I think that's why they call it practicing medicine-they still haven't gotten it right.

And, funny how we grew up fine and know how to take a chance and not always look for what is safe in life. Nor do we expect life to be always safe. I'm glad I grew up then and not now with so many "don'ts" around that not only take away some supposed dangers, but take away a lot of the basic joys.