I am making a baby quilt for no one in particular and am wondering how wide it should be? I have no other baby blanket to compare it with but I want it to be used while the baby is little and also as he grows ie to drag around and to lay down watching tv etc so what would be a good size while not being too big? At the moment it is 26in wide and 36 inches long and i am going to add borders which will make it approx 32 inches wide and 42 in long..will this be too small?

A crib quilt is 45" by 60"

i better make mine wider then! i ran out of fabric but managed to get some more of the same one this morning..thank goodness!
Thanks for responding..it was truly helpful and appreciated.

I make them kinda big so the kids don't outgrow them so quickly. I like 45X60, but that varies with the design. If it's more than 44-45 wide, then you can't use just one piece of fabric, I try to keep it 40-44 wide. But the quilt police are not there - do what looks good!

thanks for your input Saravincent...i was thinking of putting fleece on the back? Has anyone done this and is it hard to sew with ie would there be a problem with puckering as the fleece is stretchy?
I just thought it would be so snuggly with the fleece and warm...by the way the front is a disappearing nine patch done with cotton material.

I am making mine 40X60 so that the grands can use them for a longer time, too :wink: I plan on using fleece on the back and I heard to keep an eye on the bobbin area for dust and to use a walking foot. I am going to try putting the cotton on the bottom and using a roller foot to see how well that works, too :wink:

thanks for the tip to put the cotton on the bottom and to keep an eye on the dust Amma...but whats a roller foot?

It looks as though you already have your answer, but I thought I'd chime in. My Mom's church group does baby quilts for charity, and they never go larger than 45" square. This may have been in the original ABC quilts design plans (Mom was an area coordicator). ABC's were given to "At-Risk Babies and Children" in hospitals, etc. Project Linus has sort of taken over the ABC's now.

Fleece on the back? Why not. As you said, it's stretchy but that isn't much of a problem with such a small quilt. I have put cotton, fleece, flannel, whatever. Once I had a piece of lavender brush tricot stuff that I made the front just to fit. I also think of adjusting the fabric type and the thickness of the batting to where the baby will be when it's small. Northern Montana VS Southern Texas. I raised my babies in WY, so I was used to lots of warmth, thick, flannel. I'm making a blankie for a "someday hopeful" for my daughter in Phoenix. It will be thinner and cotton.

I make mine 48x48. I tell the moms when they move to a big bed let me know and I will make them another. I use flannel on the backs. I don't like fleece because it stretches too much.

When my children were small, they liked small blankies that they could carry around. Sometimes smaller is better, it can be held and loved more. I wouldn't worry too much if yours is smaller than recommended.

I put fleece on the back of most of my Project Linus quilts, and the stretch doesn't seem to be a problem if I quilt with a walking foot.

One of my grandsons dragged around a satin pillowcase - all over - until he was about 3. that was about 20 x 32.

I think a "drag-around" quilt could be fairly small. Then when child outgrows it, you have a reason to make another one. :-)

I think I would tie it if I was going to put fleece on the back.

Maybe the only caution would be for everything to be equally washable.

I've used brushed arnel on the back, but that has very little stretch.

I make mine 45x60..Crib sized. It follows them to toddlerhood well!

width of fabric (40 to 45 inches wide) to around 60 inches long - the quilt design sort of determines the length

Well, I made one for my latest granddaughter, by request. It's about 24" wide x 40 long, to sit on top of the crib covers. I believe it will become a play mat once the crib is outgrown! :lol:

My 9yr old granddaughter just made her first quilt - a baby quilt and it's 36 x 36 - that's the size our guild makes for the preemie quilts. It was just the right size for her to handle and is the perfect size for the wee baby boy that was just born. She's hoping he'll want to drag this along wherever he goes.

thankyou all for your advice..it is truly appreciated. I have decided to definitely make it wider and then will have a look to see if it also needs to be longer. Nantucketsue your cot quilt is gorgeous and unusual as i have never before seen an oval quilt...

I try to keep them under 44 inches wide, that way I can use one piece of fabric as the backing. I know there are ways to piece the back simply, but that's my lazy way of doing it.