Flannel and Minky Remnant Projects

After sewing up flannel receiving blankets, and minky and flannel pillowcases, I was left with several pieces of adorable remnant material.  I love minky and flannel, and had to put them to good use right away.  The softness of the flannel and minky make them ideal materials for any baby related project.  Burp rags and taggie cuddle squares won out this time.

  Because I had coordinating fabrics, I was able to make some cute burp rag sets to give out as gifts. I've sewn several different styles of burp rags, but a simple rounded rectangle is my favorite.  The straight edges make it easy to turn right side out, and then topstitch down. I don't remember the exact dimensions of these, but I'm thinking that they were around 9"x14", that makes it large enough to lay down and use as a changing mat if you're in a crunch.  

Another favorite scrap related baby project is the sensory cuddle square.  This allows you to use up all of those small pieces of ribbon that you couldn't toss, and gives baby something soft to hold onto.

I like to make my taggies squares, but you could even through a few pieces of ribbon onto the ends of your burp rags. You can make these any size.  I made two 12 inch squares and a 10" square as well.  You can always sandwich in a piece of crinkly plastic, but for some reason the thought of laundering the plastic deters me.

You can find my Sensory Cuddle Square tutorial here.

Tutorial: Soft (Half Square Triangle) Sensory Block

I decided that it was time to put some of my coordinating scrap fabrics to good use, and a sensory block seemed like the perfect fit. The sensory blocks are made out of fleece, minky, and quilters cotton.  The variety of materials will stimulate those little fingers as baby explores different textures.  I also added scrap piece of ribbon to the half square triangle seam allowances.  Inside the block: plastic bags for a big of a crinkle, and a couple of small bells.  

 I used my Accuquilt Go! Baby fabric cutter to cut out several half square triangles.  You don't necessarily need a fabric cutter for your half square triangles, but it can make the whole process much faster and easier (especially since the seam allowances are already added to the triangles.  You could also, make the sensory blocks out of plain old regular squares, and add the tags to the side seams.

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