Tutorial - Soft Baby Blocks

Ruby is spending more and more time on her tummy to help strengthen her neck and back and lately I've noticed her staring at things in the studio with bold, graphic patterns. It's common knowledge that babies notice strong contrasts in color so I decided to make her some soft blocks to place in front of her while she's on her tummy to distract her from 'the burn'. No pain, no gain, Ruby.

It's an easy project for beginner sewers that has been around for a long time. I've seen some sweet ones made from vintage linens, embroidered on, and embellished with felt letters and numbers. You can add sound affects by adding bells, crinkly paper, etc. It took me about 30 minutes to finish the second one while the little one napped.

I chose two patterns with colorful, strong patterns and decided on two blocks with one block having more of the black and one block having more of the white. This turned out to be six squares of each print measuring about 6" squared.

I lined up my squares in a cross shape, as shown above, and pinned them together horizontally. I sewed them at the edges and then ironed them flat. Before you start pinning, decide which direction you want your fabrics with print to face.

Finish pinning the vertical pieces and stitch them together. Iron flat.

Make sure you stop just short of stitching all the way to the edges so that when you sew the corners together in a cube shape, you have a little room.

Proceed to sew the edges together so that you end up with an inverted jack-in-the-box shape. Then stitch two of the three remaining edges together. The open edge will allow you to stuff your block.

Turn it right side out and stuff with poly-fil. Add some jingle bells for even more fun!

Tuck the remaining sides together and pin. Hand-stitch with machine thread using a blind stitch for a seamless look!

Two or three blocks will keep your baby's attention now, provide something soft to stack when she's a toddler, and something light to throw around your house when they are stuck inside because of a snow storm.

Ruby is demonstrating for you. She's a good demonstrator.


We're enjoying the beautiful snow from the confines of our couch this evening. Tomorrow we might venture out to the Expo Center to the largest garage sale ever to be hosted in January anywhere. At least I hope.

Be back soon!
xoxo,
Rachel