So a very important little man in my life turned one! To celebrate I wanted to make him a very special keepsake gift.
After showing his Mum the Children at Play range by Sarah Jane she fell in love with it as much as I did! I went ahead and used fabrics from both over the fence and after school collections.
And that’s what I ended up with.
My friend loves White, and tempering all those traditional boy colours with a healthy does of white made the quilt a bit more modern. I love the fabric so much I had a hard time cutting into it so I just went with big squares so you could really appreciate the illustrations and colours of each one.
and I quilted it with a ‘train-track’ pattern, I don’t know if that’s what its actually called but that’s what I call it! Seems appropriate here!
While I was taking pictures our Vintage Noddy and Big Ears (made for me when I was a child by my Grandma) wandered off their top shelf to have a little look….
I backed it in England Swings – Butcher Stripe (have you seen the gorgeous video on her site! sigh) for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, it brings out the darker blue of the rocket ship illustrations, which I love and wanted to highlight. I also wanted something simple and masculine for the backing. I thought if he ever feels too ‘grown-up’ for the sweet illustrations he can just flip the quilt over and keep using it!
Finally, my Grandfather was a butcher and he trained my Dad as a butcher, when I was a kid on Saturday morning’s Dad would help out his mates in their butcher shops. I remember him wearing aprons with this exact print. I have fond memories of going to pick him up after the Saturday morning rush. Shuffling through the sawdust on the floors and being plonked up on the butchers paper (the only spot where the cold steel benches wouldn’t freeze my toosh) and been given a piece of polony to munch on while he finished cleaning up. So when I saw this fabric I couldn’t help but back this special quilt in something that evokes fond memories of my own childhood!
Finally I hand bound it in this sweet mid blue, dot and stripe fabric. I was having a hard time deciding between a dot and a stripe or maybe a gingham for the binding and then I found this! It tied all the blues together beautifully and I didn’t have to decide! The perfect binding fabric really!
As with any quilt lots of love and time when into this one and I’m so pleased with how it turns out! I hope it keeps him warm and safe for many years!