Shades of baby blue fabrics with lots of texture with a sweet sampler in the middle. Satin, fluffy fleece, smooth comforting cotton, and a textured t-shirt knit make up this durable yet beautiful baby quilt.

Don't want to make this, buy it at www.passionandpatience.etsy.com

Cordinating picture also available.

Step 1: Materials Needed:

15" square piece of waste canvas (model is stitched on 16 ct)
15" square of solid color fabric
Floss in the colors that compliment your fabric
Mine is done in DMC:
5200 White,3756 Lightest pale blue,765 Lightest pale gray
827 Light Blue,826 Medium Blue,824 Dark Blue
369 Light pistachio green,368 Medium pistachio green
367 Dark pistachio green,500 Dark forest green
Clear glass beads
Large embroidery hoop
Cross Stitch Chart (the model is available for sale on passionandpatience.etsy.com)
Light weight infusible interfacing
Fabric (I chose 4 different ones. 1 yard of 3 and 2 yards of the
one you want to use for the backing...there will be leftovers)
Batting
Needle
Scissors
Sewing machine

Step 2: Stitch Your Sampler

Baste waste canvas to the face of your solid color fabric. Find the top most center point of your cross stitch chart (arrows usually mark this point on the chart for you). Find the top most center point on your waste canvas covered fabric. This will be your starting point. Place your project on the embroidery hoop and stretch tight. Start stitching, making sure that all your stitches are going in the same direction. As you finish an area, move your hoop to the next section. Don't put the beads on just yet.

Step 3: Securing the Stitching

Once you have finished all of the cross stitches and outlining, flip your project over and iron your interfacing across the stitches. Follow the instructions on your interfacing package. (I use 911 featherweight interfacing) After attaching your interfacing, (make sure your canvas is completely dry) flip your project back over and start attaching your beads. Beads are attached the most securely by using the cross stitch. The first stitch (\) runs through the middle of the bead. The second stitch (/) runs through the middle of the bead from the other direction making a (X) through the middle of your bead.

Step 4: Removing Waste Canvas

Waste canvas needs to have all of the sizing washed out to be able to remove. I usually just through mine in with the wash and dry it just like you would intend to wash and dry your quilt after it is finished. Once your project is completely dry, settle back in a comfortable chair. Starting at one of the corners, start pulling each thread loose of the stitching. I use a pair of tweezers to get a good crip. After all of the threads have been pulled out, you will see that your cross stitch picture is stitched onto fabric with out any lines. If you have wrinkles, feel free to iron them. It will be easier to incorporate into your quilt pieces that way.

Step 5: Preparing the Fabric to Quilt

My sampler was 12" x 12" when finished with a 1/4" seam allowance. I wanted all of my squares to be of equal size and complimentary to my sampler so I cut my fabric into 6" squares with a 1/4" seam allowance, making my squares 6 1/2" overall. Your will need 15 squares of each fabric (if you are using 4 different kinds). After you have cut your squares, decide how you want them laid out. Lay it out on a table or the floor to get a good visual.

Step 6: Sewing Your Quilt Top

Keeping your design in mind, take a square of 2 different fabrics, faces together and stitch. I am a firm believer is pins. I can't hold everything I want to hold with just my fingers. Since my design was very simple, I was able to stitch the same 2 colors of fabric until done and then started on the other 2 so that I had reduced my pile of fabric from 4 piles of unstitched squares to 2 piles of stitched rectangles. My design is a plain 12" square, so I stitched a rectangle from each pile (faces together) to make my squares. Now, instead of 2 piles of rectangles, now I have 14 large squares and my sampler. Because I wanted my batting attached at all of my major seams, I cut my batting at this point into 12" strips, 36" long. Sew your large squares together. I put 3 large squares in a row. Do this 2 times. Now it is time to put those 2 rows together. I make a batting sandwich. Batting, row of large squares (face up), row of large squares (face down), and batting. Making sure that all of your edges are lined up, sew these together. (Again, I am a huge fan of pins. It takes extra time, but the results are much better) I made my rows go across and sewed them together as follows:

Row 1: square, square, square
Row 2: square, square, square
Row 3: square, sampler, square
Row 4: square, square, square
Final Row: square, square, square

Your quilt top should be finished and you will have some idea what it is going to look like.

Step 7: Attaching the Backing

This part has always been the most difficult for me (I'm not a professional quilter!) so I am particularly careful at this step. With your quilt top face up, lay your piece of backing face down. Line up all edges and pin into place. Sew together. It will look like this, backing material, quilt top, batting. Making sure that everything is smooth, match, pin, and sew each long side. Finally, match and pin together the layers at the bottom, but only sew across part of the way. I sewed my a little in from each corner leaving a hole in the middle. It should look like a giant pillow case that needs turned inside out.

Step 8: Finishing Your Quilt

Stick your hands inside and pulling from a corner pull through the opening at the bottom of your quilt turning it right side out. Poke your corners out so that they look nice. At the hole, tuck under edges and pin into place. Hand stitch the opening closed. My quilt is more like a tie quilt. I went all around the edge and top stitched so that it would look neater. You don't have to, it would look more like a comforter that way. Depending on your ability and patience, your can finish your quilt in many ways. I wanted mine to be very simple. I found these sweet little heart buttons that I thought would work well. Washable, no sharp edges, and flat. In the center of each large square, I sewed on a button going all the way through to the back. I used 14 buttons. If you would like a more traditional quilt, you would stitch around each square through the back.

Congratualations! You have a beautiful, yet functional creations.