BOISE STATE QUILT

My first quilt post!

 I love quilting.  L.O.V.E  I.T.  I have been quilting for about 12 years, and I love that there is always something new to make, new fabric to find, new tecniques to master.  Quilting is an endless possibility of color and patterns. 

 I LOVE it.

 So, onto my first quilt posting.....Boise State!

My husband loves Boise State.

 

He loves it. 

He didn't just jump on the Boise State bandwagon when they started gaining national attention a couple of years ago.  He has been an avid follower for years.  For almost as many years as he's loved Boise State, he's hinted at me making a quilt for him.  Not just any quilt. 

 A Boise State quilt.

Because my husband loves Boise State, most everyone else in the household loves it, too!  He dresses our children in Boise State gear.  Not just our boys, but all of our girls have Boise State shirts, too.  All except for our youngest daughter, who has a Boise State necklace made out of Hazelnut shells.  Boise State logo painted on each nut shell and strung on a ribbon.  Interesting...and pretty. 



This is a random photo of our guy at the monster truck show with my husband, but notice the shirt....(Boise State!)
His favorite!  Not something that breaks my husband's heart, not at all!



When we first got married 9 years ago, he was following Pro football a little closer than he was college football.  He was really a fan of the Denver Broncos, so I made him a Denver Broncos fleece blanket for his birthday the first year we were married.  You know, the ones where you double the fleece and then tie it together around the edges?  I made it super long, because he is a super tall guy.  6'6" to be exact.  I only made it as wide as the fleece was, so it was only about 58" wide...actually about 56" after I tied all the edges up.  So he would always comment that it wasn't wide enough to cover his shoulders up quite all the way.  He's not only a super tall guy, he has super broad shoulders, too. 

 So, this Christmas, after all his years of hinting, I thought I'd finally create him a quilt that he would love and that would fit all of his criteria.  Long, wide, warm and snuggly, and, (I don't know if I have these in the right order of importance...) be Boise State!

(...that box of Miller Genuine Draft down there....just a box to pack our Christmas Village in.  Didn't consume it!)

I found the orange Boise State fabric on Etsy, and I knew that was the fabric I wanted for his quilt. (I just went over and checked, and the shop I found it on is sold out.  Bummer!  Especially because my son wants one exactly like it, and I didn't buy enough!  Argh! )

Next, I needed to find a pattern that would be masculine for him, but something simple enough that I could finish in a short amount of time during the crazy holidays.

I found this quilt pattern from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and I knew that was the one.   It's called Fair and Square, and I thought it was perfect for a big, masculine guy's football quilt!  I strayed a little from her instructions and made it longer and wider for perfectly covered shoulders, and feet, and measures 84 X 84.   I think I'll have to use her pattern again....

I'm normally a machine quilter, and have quilted all my quilts on my sewing machine for the past couple of years, which I love doing!   I decided I would try out my longarm quilting skills on the rentable longarm at our local Janome dealer, because I couldn't bear to even think about all the time and effort (not to mention the workout) it would take to push this big quilt through my machine, and I wasn't sure how my machine would like the fabric I used for the back.

I decided to go for a loopy pattern through the blue background and swirly footballs in the orange squares.  I have to say....I love it!  Sorry, not the best picture up above....

I used a blue fleece on the back, which makes it nice and heavy and super cozy!  The quilting looks really cool on the back, I think!

I have to say...I think that I was born to be a longarm quilter!  Okay, my quilting wasn't perfect, but for my very first time, I don't think I did a horrible job!  I had sOoOoO much fun quilting it, once I got the hang of it after the first row.  Plus, it only took me four hours....compared to the four days it probably would have taken me on my sewing machine!

The only problem with quilting on a longarm in the middle of a busy store is that many older gentlemen who were in the store with their wives were coming up to me trying to talk about Boise State and how their season is going.  I had to say, 'sorry! I'm just making the quilt!  My husband is the football guru!'  It was lots of fun to get some compliments, though!

I'm going to have to definitely go back and use that baby again!  What I wouldn't give to have one of those beauties for myself. *sigh*

 I used the same orange fabric for the binding which finishes the whole quilt off quite nicely, I think.

Anyway, I gave this to him for Christmas, and I think he really loves it.  He's a snuggler by nature, and he's ALWAYS under it when he's hanging out at home.  He even wraps it around himself and walks around in it! 

Ahhh!!

The satisfaction of a gift well planned and well received!