My poor long-suffering middle child finally has a quilt to call his own. This quilt has been in the works since before Christmas but has been put off for baby quilts and a teacher quilt. And if I'm honest, because I just didn't enjoy working on it. Carson picked some wildlife panels that were so not my style and that I had no idea what to do with. And it didn't help that several of them were printed off square. So it was slow going.
I finally decided to cut some of the panels apart and made some stars with fussy cut centers. These are my two favorite. The other two were a rock and a tree. Not as exciting.
This is the center panel. Now that it's done I'm not loving the grid quilting. Like his older brother, Carson requested minimal quilting but I felt like I couldn't leave that big space entirely unquilted. Oh well. It's fine.
The only sort of pattern I used for this whole quilt was Scout by Cluck Cluck Sew for the borders. And even that I changed to make the feather portions thicker. I did some bricks around the center panel. And because I am not a quilting math genius none of the corners pieces, neither the stars nor the wolf/elk panels, match up exactly with their respective borders. You can see that pretty well in the above picture. It frustrated me to no end while I was working on it but now that it's done it doesn't bother me as much.
The back was a lovely soft flannel plaid that Carson had picked. This is the first time I have backed a quilt with flannel. I had a few small problems with puckering but I love how soft and cuddly it is. I wish it had turned out a bit longer. Its plenty wide enough for his bed but he is a tall boy and going to get taller so it should have been longer. Eventually I'll make him another one. But this time I think I will avoid panels and follow a pattern!
I named it Bear Hug. Carson is the middle child but he is the biggest. He outweighed all his siblings by 2 pounds at birth. And he has passed everyone but his dad in height at age 13. He has a great smile and sense of humor and reminds me of a big teddy bear. And he does give pretty great hugs.
I finished this quilt while he was away at scout camp. And Geoff and I left for our Switzerland trip the day before he got home. So I laid it out on his bed for him to find. He was pretty excited.
I have no idea what I'd do with wildlife patterns! I think you're brave and awesome for coming up with something so fun. And I love the borders. I have two boys, and I'm sure the quilts I make them in the future won't be much to my taste...but they're still young and have to put up with mama likes, so that's okay for now, right? :) I'm glad your son loved it. It looks like a total boy quilt.
ReplyDeleteI guess so! Who wouldn't love to be welcomed home from camp with a bear hug such as yours?!
ReplyDeleteGreat job working with the panels. Oh, that the corners don't match up to the borders is a design enhancement, don't let anyone tell you differently. YOU are the designer afterall and you can do what you wish.
ReplyDeleteI bet he loves it! I struggle with boy quilts too - but my wee man is still a baby, so not too many problems yet:-)
ReplyDeleteI have a little boy who is growing too fast and this quilt will go into my idea file for when he grows up a little. I think he'd love it.
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