So you’ve pretty much decided that handmade baby quilts are the perfect gifts to bring to baby showers. Aside from the fact that they’re so darned cute, you’ve based the decision on many practical criteria:
They’re washable and dryer-safe.
One size fits all.
Homemade quilts for sale have unique designs that can be personal for the expectant family.
The quilts will be used from infancy through toddlerhood and plenty time thereafter.
They have an afterlife as treasured keepsakes.
Oh, and they’re warm.
But there’s another great advantage that might be less obvious, yet is of great significance: That beautiful piece of cloth art, handmade from soft cotton flannel, can be a baby’s first teacher.
It’s becoming more conclusive that babies are smarter than we think. Sure, they’ve been equipped with a genetic profile that will influence their personalities, but they may be storing data long before they leave the womb, and they’re certainly starting to accumulate information as soon as they’re in the crib.
Newborns who cuddle with a plain solid-color blanket or quilt could be missing out on an opportunity for some valuable brain stimulation, while those who snuggle with homemade baby quilts might reap that benefit.
Just think about the difference. Baby Number One is curling up with a plain pink blanket. What happy ideas might that inspire? It’s hard to say. Baby Number Two is cuddling with a homemade baby quilt designed as a patchwork of flowers and whimsical animals. Each patch is the starting point for a wonderful adventure. Perhaps stroller rides in the flower garden will start percolating in the baby’s mind, or maybe the monkeys and giraffes in the design will call to mind the jungle stories Mom and Dad sometimes read at bedtime. If the quilter has fashioned the quilt with random placement of matching squares throughout the design, then there’s always an opportunity to play a brain-tickling match-up game.
A quilter’s unique baby quilt ideas stitch together stories. Their fabric art is filled with spurs to the imagination. Some motifs are nautical, with sailing ships and underwater sea creatures in the mix. As the tiniest baby starts to hear songs and stories of the sea, their nautical quilts are boosting their images of adventures in the maritime world.
Some baby quilts homemade from flannel use numbers and letters in their cheery designs. What a great way to introduce those concepts to little ones, who might learn to grasp their meaning long before pre-school and kindergarten. At first, comes recognition. Simple words and addition follow.
Although some handmade baby quilts for girls and boys have soft pastel designs to help the little ones sleep, others are fabricated with brighter colors and textured, minky fabrics to ignite the imagination of a future painter, potter or filmmaker.
They might also nurture a love of learning in a subtle and charming way. Handmade baby quilts for sale offer a huge choice of delightful designs that please the eye and are smooth to the touch.
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