i snagged a couple naptime hours this weekend to clean up my utter disaster of a sewing room…and in the process, i got inspired to do some stashbusting and a project i’d delayed for far too long – a cozy quilt for O!
the little guy doesn’t realize it, but i’ve felt bad for a long time because i’ve never made him a blankie of his own. i made his sister a quilt, and multiple cozy flannel/minky blankies for snuggling/school, but none for him.
it’s not like he’s blanket-deprived – he was gifted a number of handmade and store bought blankets at baby showers and has actually adopted my baby quilt as his own…just none made by ME. and i believe that there’s nothing more special a mother can make than a cozy blanket for her kids. you’re literally wrapping your little one up in love!
it was when his unborn baby brother was gifted a beautiful CINO quilt that the guilt really started to set in. O needed a home sewn quilt! NOW!
i had gotten this Ed Emberley for Cloud 9 alligator print at Bolt last year with the intention of using it for a blanket for him…
…and same plan with the super soft light blue minky on the back.
it’s hard to see in photos, but i did irregular sawtooth quilting on the alligator print and straight horizontal lines across the solid color blocked top and bottom rows. it looks like alligator teeth in person! there is no batting, but due to the minky it still has a nice weight to it.
the top and bottom rows (scraps cut 8” high to extend this directional print a bit for more coverage) are a mix of Kona and Moda Bella solids from my stash in colors that pull from the print. the quilt measures 35” x 50” which covers him very nicely.
the binding is Amy Butler’s full moon polka dots in tangerine (still available here)! think i may have gotten that at Bolt too. 😉 it’s finished by zigzag stitch, both for speed and to mimic the sawtooth quilting / alligator teeth motif.
love how the colors look when they all drape together, it feels bright and happy but still boyish.
i showed the in-progress quilt to O when he woke up from his nap, only partly quilted, and he was very excited about it, rubbing the minky side on his cheek, etc. i promised him i’d finish it when he was asleep that night, and i did. i laid it on him while he slept and when he came to our room in morning, he had wrapped himself up in it! he proceeded to “Linus around” with it for a good part of the day. GREAT SUCCESS.
does fall make you want to quilt too? i feel like the knitting and quilting bugs hit me hard when the weather gets cold (still haven’t picked up the needles yet this year, though)!
** i have emailed Lara, the winner of a Gingercake pattern. thank you to all who entered the giveaway! **
skirt as top 
what a sweet quilt. The alligators are so awesome and the alligator quilting is perfect!
Very cute quilt for your sweet boy. I love the alligators, and that’s the perfect shade of blue minky for him to do his best “Linus”ing.
i had no idea there was a fabric line with ed emberley’s work! we love his drawing books so much. they make me feel like an artist! 🙂 i love this quilt. the colors are perfect!
I love the alligator print fabric! The quilt looks great and I can see why O love it.:)
i love the blues and greens and the quilting, and seriously, i have a thing for alligators, they’re just so cute on little boy stuff! also, super impressed that you made a quilt (and took photos AND blogged it) all in the matter of one weekend. amazing.
Just had to say that O loved his quilt here at day care today but corrected me when I called it his Alligator quilt…”it’s a crocodile not a alligator!” 😉
It was a very cozy blankie and we all know how much “cozy” means to the whole family, cousins included!
Very cute! I’m doing an alligator quilt too! mine’s a bit different though! A pieced gator. Love this fabric, I haven’t seen it before!
Lovely! I’m making a boy quilt too , but it’s almost summer over here. Love the colours of yours and that minky must feel delightful.
So sweet! I feel the same way about momma-made blankies…it turned me into a pseudo-blanket/quilt maker. And darn that mommy guilt!
aw! this is great! I love that print. And the binding looks great on it too
forgot to say that I did make violet a blanket and she’s adopted my old threadbare blanket instead. ha
Love this Kristin. You make me want a boy so bad! the alligators. sheesh. Although in all honesty Charlotte would totally go for those bad boys. BTW, thank you for keeping me entertained while I renewed my license at the DMV today. I was catching up on your blog and just kept going! Read it all the way back to our first Vintage May. (it was a loong wait.)
Ooh – so cute! Love the color block strips and the binding!! And that minky back looks totally cuddly. I bet O will love it for years!!
Oh this is such a sweet blanket, and I am sure he is super duper cute “Linus”ing around with it 🙂 My mom has made so many blankets and quilts for my girls that I get to skip the mommy guilt…at least in that area 😉
So lovely for him to wake up to this keeping him snug in the morn. Hmmmm… I still have Patch’s patchwork quilt in a pile of fabrics. Not yet even cut up into pieces. And he is six. I really must do this!