Baby Blocks

          Right now I have a lot of friends and family members expecting babies, most of them are girls but there are a few boys thrown in the mix.  The other day I was moving my scrap fabric basket and spilled it.  A few extra pieces from my last rag purse fell out on the ground next to a soft baby block that my daughter left out.  I was instantly inspired.  I had everything I needed it was surprisingly easy to do.   I found the scraps I wanted to use and started running them through the big shot almost immediately.  I have several different ones cut and ready to be sewn together so here are the first two that I have done!

 

As you can see I made two different versions, one with the scalloped edges showing and one with straight edges.  I just stuffed these with fiberfill.  I contemplated going to the fabric store and getting some of the thick foam stuff but I had some baby rattles that I decided to stick in so I just went with the fiberfill.  The foam would produce a stiffer more square shaped block.  Each block uses only 6 of the scallop square dies cuts.  To create a set of 4 blocks I used about a 5 inch strip of 3 different fabrics.  (2 scallops in each fabric design)  This is really the perfect project to use up scraps!

Directions for a scalloped edge block:

 

1. Lay out 5 of the squares to form a “T” to figure out your placement of each fabric design.

 

2. Sew the pieces together along the square in the center with wrong sides of fabric together.  (I made about a 1/4 inch seam which was just below each scallop.) 

 

3.  Fold the flaps up and sew the sides (again with wrong side of the fabric together).

 

4.  Sew the 6th remaining scalloped square along the top of the block.  Make sure that you do not sew it all the way shut so that you stuff it.  Fill it with fiberfill or foam to the desired firmness.

 

5.  Sew the opening closed.  (I had to hand stitch it closed because it was too thick to fit in my machine.)  And viola, your block is done!

 

Directions for straight edged block:

 

1. Lay out 5 of the squares to form a “T” to figure out your placement of each fabric design.

 

2. Sew the pieces together along the square in the center with right sides of fabric together.  (If you make your seam about 1/4 inch it should just incorporate the whole scallop so there are not any little holes when you flip it right side out.) 

 

3.  Fold the flaps up and sew the sides (again with right side of the fabric together).

 

4.  Sew the 6th remaining scalloped square along the top of the block.  (I forgot to take a picture of this step, sorry.) Make sure that you do not sew it all the way shut.  

5.  Right now your block should be inside out, turn it right side out through the hole that you left open.  Fill it with fiberfill or foam to the desired firmness.

6.  Hand stitch the opening closed and your block is ready for some fun.

 

Aren’t these fun!  As you can see I took it one step further with the butterfly block set.  I used the Stampin’ Up! exclusive Beautiful Butterfly Bigz Die and sewed/appliquéd butterflies on to the green panels for some added fun.   Now I need to buy the alphabet and number dies so that I can make some large dice for the kids to play with,  make ABC block for them to spell, oh there are so many possibilities.   My have already had fun playing with these ones before I had to confiscate them since these ones are a gift.  Now go find some fabric and get creating!  I have one more simple big shot fabric project to show you tomorrow, that is just as fun and even simpler!  Oh this is so much fun!

Tools:  Big Shot, Stampin’ Up! Scallop Square bigz clear die,   Stampin’ Up! Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die

Pin It Now!