A quilt for my boy

About 1,000,000 months ago I started this quilt for Anthony. I don't exactly remember when...it might have been for his first Christmas, or maybe his second. Either way I started it and didn't finish it. (It needed to age for an appropriate amount of time in my WIP basket...)

Now that's he's sleeping in his own bed it's actually rather small. A little more than a yard square; which is a great snuggle size or baby quilt, but I do need to get moving on his actual toddler bed quilt. All of that being said, I LOVE this quilt. I doubt any other quilt will ever top it. It turned out exactly like I had hoped, sweet and snuggly, but still very sturdy and rustic...just like my boy! It's a very simple pattern, the khaki squares are from an old pair of Joe's corduroy pants, I alternated the "nap" so that the cord. rows go up and down in one block, then side to side in the next etc.

I did simple freehand quilting on it with embroidery floss. Big stitches, sort of straight rows, I didn't want anything fussy or to precise...it just didn't suit the project. I had it spread out and held together with basting pins (like bent safety pins) and I would work on one side and he would sit and watch on the other, then we swapped. ;) The quilt is full of memories like that...I pieced it in my grandmother's Loom Room (her studio for quilting, stained glass and weaving...bliss!) where I pieced my first quilt with my sisters; pants I got Joe for our first Christmas, and lots of time working on it with him "helping" me.

I finally sewed on the binding right before his birthday in May and he has been using it ever since. I wish I'd gotten pictures right away, because it has been through the wash at least a dozen times already and is getting a pleasantly "used" look to it. He drags it around everywhere and I know he's not ready to really start his day until he puts it down in the morning. So yes, I love it, but not as much as him! :)