concrete - a finished quilt

It's been a pretty incredible and busy week. This past weekend, my husband and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. My gift to him was his very own (first ever) quilt.

For the photo shoot, I decided to go back to where we took some of our wedding pictures.

It looks a bit different now, but still has a cool feel to it.

You can read more about the design process for this quilt in this post.

Be warned. (This post is pretty photo heavy.)

I really wanted to include my children in the making and documenting of this quilt. My oldest son was intstrumental in the basting and trimming process. And he's a pretty great photographer as well.

I decided to let them help me on a fun quilt photo shoot.

They had a blast. It was so windy under the overpass.

For the backing, I used this lovely Waterfront Park Birds in Flight print. It is so fantastic. I made three blocks of mini plus's to break up the print and add visual interest.

Four crocs photo-bombing. (I love this shot.)

I quilted it using a spiraling hexagon. I used one the hexagons from this Simply Style fabric as the point of origin.

As with any spiral quilting, the beginning was a difficult process as you push and pull most of your quilt through your machine over and over. Eventually, as you make your way from the epicenter, it gets easier.

It was too windy to get a really good flat picture, so I set up another shoot.

For binding I used a great 1/4 inch black and white stripe.

Our baby wanted in on the action...

He cannot help himself if there is a quilt on the floor.

All in all, having the whole family involved in this quilt process really added to all the love that went into every single stitch.

 

It's been washed, dried and crinkled. It kept him cool last night.

This post is for all the memories of years gone by, of a growing family, and of many, many years to come.


This week I'm doing something fun and entering this quilt into the Blogger's Quilt Festival. This is a first for me, and it's SO exciting.

Books
I am also linking up with Amanda Jean for finish it up Friday, Needle and Thread Thursday, and TGIFF.

concrete - a finished quilt top

I have finally had the pleasure of making my hubby a quilt. This is the first handcrafted item he has ever indicated an interest in, other than the toque debacle of 2007 or so, which shall not be named. He's just not a handknit, sweater wearing kind of guy.

I've been slowly collecting the fabric for this project since last fall. The stack grew and grew (yes, I have a slight problem with fabric shopping) while I searched for the right pattern. I considered designing my own, but in the end was drawn to the Giant Plus design. It's just so "manly" when done in the right fabrics. I was completely inspired by Everyday Fray's Kelsey's Manly Plus quilt. The hubby let me have creative reign with the exception of pink, purple and florals. No problem.

I drafted a color/sizing sketch and went from there.

In the end, I went with 24 rows of 21 units (single squares) across.

Size breakdown for cutting (cut sizes, not finished):
Single unit: 4" x4"
Double unit: 4" x 7.5"
Triple unit: 4" x 11"

I ended up using only one or two 4" strip off of most of the fabrics.  (Whoops... I guess I have more fabric in my stash now.)

I love how the fabrics play together in terms of contrast.

I really wanted to use this Waterfront Park birds in flight fabric as a backing, and managed to find just enough at a local quilt shop. (It'll require some piecing features on the back, but I love that part.)

I'm planning on giving it to the hubby for our 12th anniversary this weekend. I have the backing planned. All that's left to decide is how to quilt it. And then, I've got my work cut out for me.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up with Amanda Jean for finish it up Friday.