Feb 27, 2013

The Quilt that was, then wasn't, now is...

Having a good idea for a quilt and bringing it to a finished product are, as every quilter knows, two different animals. In the Fall of last year, I decided I wanted to make Mr. B a "Lego Quilt" for his March 1st birthday (the big 7!) because that is all the young man wanted or talked about. Particularly Lego Ninjago mini-figures. For two years now that's all he's wanted for Christmas, his birthday or whenever he saves up money to buy something for himself. So a Lego Ninjago quilt would be perfect!

I had no pattern, just the idea in my head. Using fusibles, primary colored fabric, and my trusty light box, I created the four Ninjago figures plus the Sansei. All the details you see are done in thread, including their belts and the wrinkles in their clothes. Mind you, my grandson can identify these characters by THE SHAPE OF THEIR EYES (!), so I really had to pay attention and get the details right. Nothing worse than be scoffed at by a 6 year old.

The quilt got put away over the holidays, but came back out in late January. I got the main characters up on my design wall, added some pinwheels to give the quilt some motion, and sewed a large LEGO logo. I fiddled around with placement, found the PERFECT background fabric, and generally just tinkered with the lay out.

For too long.

Mr. B has apparently moved on from Lego to all things Pokemon. Lego Ninjago minifigures are yesterday's news... or quilt embellishment, as it were.

Sigh sigh sigh...

So now I have these amazingly wonderful applique'd Ninja guys that took FOREVER to create, a young man no longer all that interested (though we all know, that could change next week and Lego's will once again be his main source of entertainment), and a birthday self-imposed deadline looming. What to do, what to do....

I grabbed a variety of blue fabrics from my stash, combined with some white on whites, and went to HST (half square triangle) land in a hurry. Here's the result - a nice, traditional blue and white twin-sized quilt (shown on my queen size bed) that can be appropriate for several years, no matter what Mr. B's interests are.

Front

HOWEVER...

I just couldn't let those Ninjago guys be left homeless or stuck away in a UFO Block box. So.... here's the back of Mr. B's quilt:

Back  
I will use the Lego logo to make a matching pillowcase for him.

The good news? It's done in time for his birthday. The bad news... I guess there is no bad news, but I do feel a little "cheated" that I didn't get to make the Lego quilt that was in my head!

Happy, happy birthday, Mr. B.  I couldn't possibly love you more.

1 comment:

Barbara Arcement said...

Love those Ninjago guys. That was a great way to incorporate them into the quilt.

Hope you are well. I have not seen any posts on your blog in quite a while.

hugs
beebee