the panda quilts: #16: the mister's quilt

after making quilts for both of my sisters, my dad, and countless baby quilts, i was beginning to feel a little guilty about not having made one for my husband. i kept my eye open for fabrics he may like and patterns he may find appealing, but the quest for the perfect combination of both kept this quilt un-made for a quite awhile. plus, i know how particular he is about EVERYTHING, so i wanted this one to be just right. i can't even remember how the decision was ultimately made, but i pulled a stack of some kona solids (windsor, sage, yarrow, chocolate and medium grey), asked him if he liked the color combination (he did), and ordered 2 yards of each.

from there, i set out cutting a bunch of triangles with my trusty creative grids 60 degree triangle ruler. (i cut them at 6").  i played around with different layouts and asked for his input. i love the hundreds of permutations that occur with triangles...

we decided on organized rows, double brown. (no go on the moon print, but i was able to use those in tracey's baby quilt). i spent the month of february sewing row-by-row whenever i'd get a chance (our house had sold but we weren't closing/moving til mid-march, so i had some spare sewing time again). i finished about half the quilt top before the move.

schminkey the cat, keeping tabs on me

new sewing room floor (and the quilt top 2/3 complete)

i can't remember when i got back to work on the other half, but it was well after we had moved in and unpacked. 17 rows of 21 triangles = 357 triangles. it's about 60" wide by 90"long, approximately the size of an extra-long twin quilt.

straight-line quilting, of course.

for the back, i did something a little cheesy, but i incorporated championship racing stripes, a nod to the mister's love of cycling. and kind of a bianchi celeste back there, too (it's the kona sage from the front). you can really see the diamond-shape quilting on the back.

says he: "i love it." he plans on taking it out on tour with him, so this quilt will see the likes of a stinky 15-passenger van, lots of states, some drippy taco bell fire sauce, and maybe some laundromats on the way. it's ready for adventure.

side note: i used quilter's dream wool batting for the first time; normally i use the natural select cotton. i've washed and dried the quilt a few times and i'm seeing crazy amount of "bearding" with this. i didn't even know this term existed, but when i googled "wool batting fuzzy problems" (or something like that) i learned that this sometimes happens.  it has to do with science! and molecules!  (if i think of it this way, i feel slightly less disappointed). i'll definitely stick to using regular cotton batting from here on out.