Racing Quilt for a Nephew

And here we have the third quilt on the third day! You didn't think I could do it, did you?!? Just 2 weeks ago I learned that my nephew, who just turned 2, is obsessed with Matchbox cars. We hadn't yet purchased a Christmas gift for him, so I started thinking about a play mat that he could use to play with his cars. Since I didn't have much time to work on any complicated patchwork or applique, I started looking for panels that might work. I found a Matchbox Hero City panel that was perfect, and a coordinating construction vehicle fabric for the backing.

I added a piece of geometric blue fabric to the backing, and basted the pieces together. Then I used free-motion quilting to outline all of the roads and the mountain range along the top of the panel. I also quilted around the black border (between the blue and the scene). I used a bias-cut black and white check fabric for the binding, thinking it would look something like those checkered flags they wave at car races. The entire project was very quick, and it worked really well. It's the first whole cloth quilt I've made, and it was quite satisfying to have something come together so quickly!

The sun was definitely not cooperating for these photos, but here is the front:

and here is the back:

and here is a detail of the back:

I'm hoping my nephew will have fun driving his cars along the roads and having his own car races. I'll try to get some pictures if my vision becomes a reality!

I've got to run - we're *trying* to get to Denver today as we're supposed to be spending Christmas with family in Colorado this year. Think good thoughts for us as we hope to be on one of the first flights in once they re-open the airport! I'll try to post while we're away, but if I'm not able to, I'll be back on the 30th.

Happy and safe holidays to everyone!

Comments

[Irene]

That's just beautiful! You're so talented!

Your nephew must have been very happy to get that quilt. My little son would have loved to get one of those for Christmas but his mommy is just not that artistically-gifted! ;p

Hope you're enjoying the holidays!

[Kewl]

Wow! Where did you get the panel?