T's quilt ~ finally finished!

Over the years,

TJ has let me know reminded me, multiple times,

that he still was in need of a quilt.

I had been collecting fabric for a quilt for him for awhile,

but when I was about ready to actually start working on it,

I figured it might be smart to ask what kind of a quilt he had in mind.

Which turned out to be a good idea :-)

(and since it wasn't a surprise, I got to keep him updated on my progress, which was fun)

Instead of a bed quilt, he wanted a large throw for his living room,

so he could snuggle under it to watch a  movie or play video games.

His furniture is pretty neutral, but he likes bright colors,

so we decided to marry the two.

In February

I ordered fabric (kona solids) and designed his quilt based loosely on one that I'd spotted on Pinterest.

I made excellent progress at first.

The top came together in just a few weeks,

and the back  - a vintage sheet that he loved, along with some pieced solids - came together nicely, too.

Then, the quilting...

He wanted some hand-quilting, 

so I hand quilted the very center, the outer border, some of each corner, 

and just a few random blocks through-out the quilt.

That part went well.

The  machine quilting with aurifil 12 thread was causing me fits, though.

I ended up ordering a silicone lubricant - to actually spray on the fabric (that made me nervous - let me tell you!)

and then a thread conditioner to soak my thread in.

I had to go super slow, and I'm still not overly thrilled with the quilting,

and not even super confidant in it holding up long term

since I had lots of tension issues, too.

(It'd be fine and then all of a sudden, stitches were loose again....)

If some of the machine quilting does come out, since every piece was quilted individually,

it won't be a big deal to replace the machine quilting

with hand-quilting

as it's needed.

I think I've improved a lot as a quilter since starting this quilt

(I started, and finished, this one, and I've got a paperpiecing project - both of these helped my accuracy, I think)

so when I look closely, I see all the imperfections, and what I wish I'd done better.

But when I step back, and see it as a whole - and as a quilt for a young man - I like it quite a bit.

So, 

there ya have it 

 ~  T's quilt  ~ 

designed and carefully created with love for a son I love so much

and am so proud of.

I'm entering this machine pieced, hand and machine quilted 70" x 84" quilt in Amy's awesome Bloggers' Quilt Festival in the throw category.

Oh.

And I'm still collecting fabrics for my original quilt idea for T. 

You know how it is - you get an idea in yer head...

Love you, my boy!