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May 16, 2019

When I first found out I was pregnant, I immediately started thinking of how I was going to use her clothes in a quilt.

Would I do a square patchwork quilt? Would I make it big enough to use the graphics on the clothes? Would I make it small enough to hang on the wall? Surely, I wouldn't want to use such a quilt, right? What clothes would make the cut as special enough to save?

That last question was where I started. I decided pretty early on, within the first month, that I would only save the "monthly picture" outfits for a special quilt. Then, I didn't give it much more thought after that. I figured, at some point, the right idea would present itself. 

And after a while it did. I was scrolling through instagram and came across the Down Memory Lane quilt by Aqua Paisley. I knew instantly that would be the pattern I used for my daughters first year mini. I filed the idea away until I had time to work on it. 

Well....at the beginning of this year, my husband and I found out I was pregnant again! Suddenly, I felt the urge to finally get all the first first year projects done for our daughter (who is now two and a half). That baby book is also sitting unfinished. Oops!

I downloaded the pattern, grabbed the onesies from my cedar chest, and got started. Start to finish, this only took me a week. I had been in a quilting funk, and this was the perfect project to light that spark again. 

I arranged the clothes in order from the outfit she came home from the hospital in to the twelve month photo.

First year memory quilt made with baby onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts

I knew I wanted to frame this with a collage of the monthly photos, so I knew I needed to keep it small. Luckily, the hearts finish at 3" so the entire mini is a 16" square. The downside to the small size was the pieces were too small to include any of the cute graphics from the onesies. If I were to make this again, I would use the cut out the graphics and make a patchwork backing. Though, I'm not too worried that I didn't do that because the quilt is framed and no one would ever see it. 

First year memory quilt made with baby onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts

As a fun touch, I used one of the fabrics in her baby quilt as the backing. I love how the two tie together even if I'm the only one who knows it's there. 

First year memory quilt made with baby onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts

Instead of a traditional quilt binding, I opted for a faced binding. It finishes this mini quilt perfectly. 

I used this website to have a 16"x16" photo printed. They had amazingly fast production and shipping. I think I had my photo within a week. (That's not sponsored or anything, I just had a good experience!). 

First year memory quilt made with baby onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts

When the photo arrived, I took everything to Hobby Lobby for framing. I cannot be happier with out it turned out. 

First year memory quilt made with baby onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts

We hung it at the entry to our stairs so I can see it from almost anywhere I'm sitting in our house (we have one of those open layouts in this house). I often find myself staring at it because I'm obsessed with it. 

First year memory quilt made with baby onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts

I love this as a keepsake as my kid(s) get older. I can't wait to make one for baby girl #2. Hopefully, I get it done before she is 2 and a half though. :)

 

Baby's first year memory quilt made with onesies by Julie Burton of Running Stitch Quilts