That newborn won’t be ready for jelly beans and chocolates this Easter, but a handmade baby quilt with a personal design will be the sweetest Easter gift he or she could receive.
You can be the smartest Easter Bunny in the hutch when you choose a lovingly hand-crafted quilt in Easter pastels for that favorite new arrival in your life. Here’s why:
Significance
Other than the eggs, Easter basket goodies don’t really connect with the significance of this meaningful observance, but a baby quilt will. If your choice is Easter pastels, it will always remind the little toddler and growing child of the special day when her quilt came into her life. Easter is a time of religious and happy family observances, and the quilt that arrived on Easter will always be associated with family togetherness and joyful celebrations of new hope and a promising future.
Longevity
The candy comes, the candy goes, but hand-crafted homemade baby quilts for boys and girls will be around for many Easters, first as a warm comforter when there’s still a chill in the not-yet-spring-like air, then as a sturdy layer of protection at playtime, to keep the baby happy on the hard surface he’s sitting on and to keep him away from what just might be hiding in the carpet. It can be treasured as a lap blanket when the family travels to other locations, and it can be kept as a treasured keepsake, so this baby’s babies can enjoy its warmth and cuddliness many years from now.
Versatility
Those Easter basket goodies are yummy, but their sole function is consumption. The handmade baby quilt with the unique design can be used in the carriage and in the playpen. It can be a friendly and familiar sleeping mat at nap time in a relative’s home. The quilt design can be eye candy, either as a great accent to the whole-house decor or to the nursery, and either as a throw over the rocking chair or as hanging wall art.
Durability
So the marshmallow bunnies taste good, but no one would ever give them credit for endurance. While the gooey little bunnies are reduced to crumbs in the carpet within seconds after use, the handmade baby quilt will stand up intact to constant washer and dryer activity, so that long after its first cleaning it looks just as good as it did coming out of the basket. That’s because an experienced quilter matches the components for performance, pre-washes and dries the materials and assembles the quilt with top-notch threads, tough bindings and meticulous stitching.
It’s Personal
Monogrammed candy bars? Don’t think so. Yet you can have the baby’s initials or name integrated into the quilt design. Or you can choose a motif for the quilt that coincides with the family’s special interests. Cars, flowers, animals, sailboats and numbers are among the many themes available in soft baby flannel that will show how thoughtful you have been in selecting a gift that’s in sync with the family’s character.