Here's my finish for this week, a sports quilt for a teen boy. Our quilt group's contacts in social work have told us there is a lot of need for quilts for teens, especially boys, so I put this one together with a familiar pattern.
When I first started quilting, I had the crazy idea of making a quilt in every existing pattern. This was before the current quilt revival, but even then this was an impossible dream. There are literally thousands of traditional quilt patterns, let alone all the wonderful new ones shared with us on the internet.
Now that I'm making quilts for charities, I think of good quilt patterns like recipes. There are some you go to again and again, like menus for week night suppers. They need to be simple, relatively quick to make, and use materials on hand. Most importantly, they need to be comforting for the recipient.
This quilt pattern falls into that category. It's called Scrappy Bricks, and I found it on the website of the Linus Connection based in Austin, Texas. Click
HERE for the PDF. They give several different sizes, all based on rectangles 4.5 in. x 8.5 in. and 4.5 in. squares. (They have links to lots of other good patterns, too.)
I made this one three rows longer than the teen size, and added 4 in. borders. The finished quilt is approximately 48 in. x 72 in. Long and narrow. I quilted it closely with 100% cotton batting, to make it flatter and easy to fold up in a back pack. Above you can see the backing.
Many of the fabrics have sports prints--baseball, hockey, soccer, etc. I chose the fabrics of the other bricks from the colors of the sports prints, so I have red, black, green, and blue.
I decided not to take any outdoor pictures of the quilt. Weather wise, it is an absolutely dismal day today, with driving rain and wind. But I believe in spring because
the robins are back! These two are sheltering against the wind in our wood pile.
I'm wishing sunshine and good weather for all (including the robins!) this week.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Link ups at
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop,
Busy Hands Quilts, and
Crazy Mom Quilts.
I love seeing what everyone else is making!
Congrats! on your newly completed Donation Quilt. Thanks for the pattern link. I made something similar for DS2 a number of years ago. (He took it off to college last year!) I used my 6" x 24" ruler to cut the patches of denim and flannel. My thinking was that bigger piece would make for faster quilting! :o))
ReplyDeleteHi, Joyful! That sounds like a good idea! I've got lots of denim and flannel in the stash.
DeleteGreat design and fabric choices for a teen male.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen! I ran it past my 12 year old grandson, who gave it a thumbs up.
DeleteSuch a wonderful pattern for a quick quilt, and the sporty fabrics you used are certain to appeal to a teenage boy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny! It can be difficult to choose fabrics for teen boys. No fluffy kittens or My Little Pony!
DeleteGreat quilt for an older boy! So much need for those, unfortunately. I hadn't thought about quilting more heavily to make it fit a backpack better, so I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteHi, Louise! I think I read that tip on a charity web site. Some kids in these situations live out of their back packs.
DeleteI love how you refer to quilt patterns as recipes that you turn to again and again. That's how I feel about Atkinson Designs "Yellow Brick Road"
ReplyDeleteHi, Barb! Just looked up Yellow Brick Road, what a cool pattern. I love that it looks completely different depending on what fabric you use. Thanks!
DeleteKudos! on a great "guy" quilt. They take a little bit of extra thinking! Yours is super duper!
ReplyDeleteThanks, grammajudyb!
DeleteI use a pattern that is similar. I cut lots of 6" square blocks on my Studio and then cut those in half to make the bricks. I've even made a few rows with the square blocks before cutting and then just turn one row around. Easy, fun little quilts that don't take long are perfect for donation quilts. I've noticed that you're making quite of few of those lately. How wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHmm...3 x 6 ... that could work nicely. Thanks for the idea, Mary!
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