Meet the Dinosaurs

I thought I'd run out of babies before I'd finish emptying my drawer of baby cloth book panels. A surprise grandnephew solved that dilemma. I will add this cloth book to the burp cloths I made for him (post dated 8/5/21).

These are the pages once they are sewn front to back and before they are joined at the spine. I inserted washable crinkly wrap inside the middle page so it makes crackling sound for the baby as the pages are turned or merely if parts of the book are stuffed into his mouth.

Here in the poem inside, with text hopefully enlarged enough to read in this post.

Occasionally these book panels are printed catywampus off grain, as was this one. I merely stretched it on the bias to square it up as much as possibly. When I sandwiched the pages with batting before stitching, I trimmed off any stray corners that would not obey. No off-kilter panel should ever be left behind. The bright and cheery colors of the finished product make me smile and made it worth the extra effort. 

Surprise Baby Burpcloths

I found out about the imminent birth of a new grandnephew "a week or two" before the baby's due date. This was a happy occasion for my nephew and his wife, since they believed they would never be parents. They were thrilled with the news. Obviously they did have more notice than I did however. The mom delivered an 8 lb 15 oz, 22½" long boy on July 30, 2021. I jumped into burp cloth mode when I heard the announcement. 

Here are the ten I made. First up were pairs of turtles, tractors, and cats. When the weather gets colder, the baby will still be spitting up and so for winter I added pairs of snowmen and penguins. 

Each burp cloth is made from two fat quarters and finishes at 12½" x 18" as shown in the following photo. In the previous photos they are folded in thirds. 

Two half yard cuts form a complementary pair of two burp cloths, the back of one is the same fabric as the triple thickness center strip of its counterpart. I am pleased to report my drawer of half-yard cuts of flannel is actually beginning to dwindle. Instructions to make the burp cloths are in an earlier blog post of mine dated June 18, 2014. Note the flannel must be 42" or so wide and not the typical 36" width of vintage flannel if you happen to have older yardage.