Saturday, December 8, 2012

Two Birthday Finishes

Last Thanksgiving (2011) was my family's year to gather together.  My niece was carrying around her other aunt's purse (also my sister - there are four sisters and two brothers). I asked her mom if she would want her own bag or purse to carry around.  MB said she'd rather have a quilt for her bed.  I've never made a quilt that was bigger than a baby blanket before so I told MB I would see what I could do.  That's when I started planning.

First, I knew that I would have to make one for her brother, too.  You know, it wouldn't be fair to make one kid a quilt and not the other.  Besides, his bday was first, but her quilt was WAY easier to plan.

Did you know that it is impossible to get Syracuse University fabric? Apparently,they do not license it which makes it terribly difficult to make a quilt for a young man who LOVES Syracuse basketball!  What's an aunt to do but get creative.  Last Christmas I kept an eye out for clearance t-shirts as I was also looking for the non-existent Syracuse fabric.  I found two so I snatched them up for $5 each.  Then the hubs and I were walking through a sporting goods store this summer and found a third.  Over the course of the last year, I gradually picked up fat quarters of basketball themed fabric to fill in.  I found a great flannel online that was sports-themed and basketballs were prominent.  That still left me wondering what to do about surrounding/framing the t-shirt panels.  I went to Hobby Lobby when they had a flannel sale, but was underwhelmed by the selection and the hubs said not to force it just because the nephew's bday was coming.  I ended up finding a GORGEOUS navy check flannel to use.  The final quilt is about 57"x 60" so I patched the back together with the sporting flannel, a strip of leftover squares, and then an 8" strip of the navy flannel.

Syracuse Quilt for HB1

Front
Back
As I said, her's was way easier to plan.  I went to the local quilt shop (LQS) and found the green kitty fabric.  Did I mention that my niece LOVES cats? Seriously.  The kid is crazy about 'em! So, I picked two complimentary colors, fussy-cut the kitties for the centers of the stars and added a white-on-white daisy print for the background.  Originally, I was just going to do a white border, but then I was going to do a checkboard along the top and bottom, but had enough leftover squares that I changed my mind and went all the way around and added a 4" white border around that.  Her backing is hot pink Minkee that matches the pink on the front and I bound it will a swirly pink flannel.  It was a total pain in the tush to quilt!!! I ripped out stitches three times last night before calling it quits for the night.  The Minkee, while incredibly soft, is also incredibly slippery and kept being brought through.  I finally got the tension and procedure right this afternoon and it took me 6 hours to quilt it.

Kitty Quilt for HB2

Front

Back
I just love these quilts and I'm pretty proud of them.  I feel pretty sure the kids will love them, too. And that's all that really matters. :)

6 comments:

  1. Wow! I hardly know what to say or do with myself. The kids are going to love them so so so much!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mare. That means a lot! I can't wait to hear about their reactions.

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  2. These are so awesome, Liz!! They are going to love them, so so much. I love them! You are really talented. I'm jealous. :)

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