DAD'S QUILT IS DONE!

Hi everyone!

I did it!  I finally finished my dad's quilt.  No more worries of wrapping an IOU as his Christmas gift!  Now I can fully relax and enjoy what little time is left before the holidays, lol. Here it is, in all of its glory!  Please excuse the faded out beige pinwheels on the bottom row.  They show up much more distinctly in person than they do in the picture. 

Dad's quilt is made of flannel and faux suede.  The faux suede matches the beige of his leather recliner, while the other colors (the flannel) are pulled from elements in my parents' home.  I wanted something "masculine" for dad, yet pretty enough that it would look okay lying out in the family room. 

This quilt reminds me of flannel shirts and argyle socks.  Since flannel shirts have a placket down the front, I used a double line of stitching in the sashes to pick up the same feel.  And, of course, all flannel shirts have to have buttons on the plackets...which I centered on the intersections of the sashing.  The rectangles of flannel on the border reminded me of argyle socks...so I stitched an "X" of quilting into each rectangle.

For the center of each block I wanted a quilting detail that would mimic the round button shape...but it had to be angular enough to pick up all of the other straight lines in the quilt.  I think the quilting pattern I found is just perfect.  Thanks again to my wonderful hubby who bought me a Baby Lock Embroidery Machine for my retirement!  My quilts can still have beautiful stitching, just sewn by machine now that I can no longer sew by hand!

The last detail to be added to the quilt was my label.  I didn't want just a "normal" quilt label showing my name and date, etc.  I wanted something that would communicate to my dad just a bit of the love that went into his gift.  A few months ago he came down with a bug that was making the rounds in our area.  Suffering from a relatively high fever, my father, the man who is NEVER cold, borrowed a quilt I had made 20 years ago...so he would have something warm to snuggle into while he watched TV!  I knew then what he was getting for Christmas.

Now he will have his own special "hug" from me... to keep him warm and cozy, always.  

I can't wait to give it to him!