little boy i spy quilt

Hot wheels and animal print quilt for a little boy

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boy quilt

   My son asked me to make him a blanket he could carry everywhere.  It was the first and only time he ever asked me to make him a quilt.  I was so excited that I dropped everything and made it for him, start to finish in only two days.
     

Fabric selection

   I wanted this quilt to be simple and unmistakably for a boy.   I had been saving a Riley Blake Hot Wheels fat quarter bundle for a special project and this was the one.  The collection features bright navy blue, orange, and grey and this was the basis for my color selection. A 5"charm pack could be used instead of the fat quarter bundle. I pulled all the boyish blues, oranges, and greys from my scrap pile and set to work.

Pattern?

I did not use a pattern to make this quilt.  I came up with a simple method to make it that did not require the sewing of any long sashing strips.

I simply cut out each 5-inch colored square and sewed a Kona snow strip to both the bottom and the right side of the piece.  

I spread out my piece on the floor to decide on placement.   I sewed my squares into blocks of four.  Then I paired up the four squares to make blocks with eight squares.   I kept pairing up my pieces until they became one piece.

I had been asked for a blanket small enough to carry around.  I decided 72 by 44 was the perfect size.   I could use a two-yard piece of fabric for the backing.  Using one piece of fabric for the back would make for a lighter blanket and as a bonus, it would be easier and faster to finish this quilt.  

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I had a two-yard cut of a studio E fabric featuring city skylines that I decided would make a perfect backing for the quilt.  I think the skylines are thematically in line with the vehicles featured on the frontside.   I also loved this particular fabric because it seemed less babyish than the prints I used on front.  My son is already getting old for a comfort blanket like I was making and I was hoping to extend the useful life of his quilt.  I wanted to extend the time before he found it embarrassing for as long as possible.
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quilting and finished

I quilted straight lines in a grid about every four inches. The blanket was so soft with the quilting at that distance.  Unfortunately, after its first trip through the washer and dryer, there were numerous spots where the seam had separated.  I had to go over the quilt again and add a lot more stitching.  I zigzagged over the spots that had already separated and then I requilted the rest of the blanket, doubling the number of lines stitched across the blanket.  It was still a soft blanket as well as being more durable.  I learned my lesson regarding quilting distance and won't skimp on the quilting again.  I hadn't realized how much it impacted the stability of the patchwork.

The quilt is bound with an orange polka dot bias tape that I had purchased on wish.com a couple of years ago.  It worked perfectly to frame the ispy quilt I made for my little boy.

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