Two Boy Quilts for Charity

I made these 2 boy quilts for charity.  I'm on a mission to provide more quilts for the boys out there!   These were donated to Shriner's Hospital.

This first one is a pattern from the book "Quilt-As-You-Go Made Modern" by Jera Brandvig.   This is the second quilt I've made from the book.  It is a good QAYG book -- has a variety of layouts and clear instructions.  One drawback to this method was that it is difficult to chain piece QAYG blocks. I felt like I was wasting a lot of thread -- after each little stitch I'd have to pull out the block, snip the thread, and start again. 

In this method, you sew the fabric right onto the batting.  Then, you sew the blocks together.  Then you add the backing -- because all the blocks are individually quilted, you just have to sew a simple grid through the quilt to attach the backing.  

 

This next quilt is out of the same fabric.  (I bought all this fabric for 75% off!)  This is from a pattern I made once before -- I really like the first quilt better.  I guess it's because there is more contrast between the background fabrics and the squares.

 

 

The second quilt is on my Finish-a-Long list for Quarter 4, 2017.

I am linking up to the Finish-A-Long party at She Can Quilt.

Holly's Tree Farm Quilt

This quilt is made from 2 charm packs of "Holly's Tree Farm" fabric.  I chose this pattern after seeing Amy Smart's Quick Cornerstone Quilt - I didn't actually construct the quilt the same way she did, though.  When I first saw the quilt online the tutorial wasn't up, so I just estimated the size of those little "cornerstones" and started sewing.  Amy's tutorial method may have been quicker.  :)

Growing up we didn't actually go to a tree farm for our Christmas trees.  We went "tree hunting" in the mountains.  In fact, my dad and brothers continue this tradition.  The day after Thanksgiving they head into the frigid Idaho mountains and find some wonderful smelling, usually too-large trees.  (They look so much smaller when they're in the forest!)  As for me -- well my little family has a simple, easy, and very artificial tree.  But the tree-hauling trucks and cars on this fabric still make me smile.

I quilted this sparingly because I want it to be nice and soft.  The center of the quilt is quilted in a grid, and the border has big loops.  The backing is a large polka dot that I got on clearance somewhere.  I thought for a minute about trying to line up the dots when I sewed the two backing pieces together.  But I only thought for a minute....and decided that was a lot of work.  :)

This is on my Finish-a-Long list for Quarter 4, 2017.

I am linking up to the Finish-A-Long party at She Can Quilt.