quilt for my dad

Last month my dad got really sick and had emergency surgery and a pretty long hospital stay.  He kept telling me how much he liked the quilt I made for my mom for Mother’s Day so I took the hint and made him his own quilt.  It’s about 65” x 76”, the perfect lap quilt size.

The fabric is mostly PB & J, a new line out and a lucky win for me on Deborah’s lovely blog Simply Miss Luella.   I won a layer cake, and then I happened to have a jelly roll that I bought during a Moda Sample Spree sale so I was able to make the 2.5” cornerstones out of that.  The sashing fabric is perhaps my favorite DS Quilts print ever, a nice gray with white circles.

To make the quilt I took out all the floral layer cake squares and then substituted in a few 10” squares from my stash.  I thought my dad wouldn’t like any flowers, even if they are pretty!

The quilting is a decorative stitch on my Janome.  I was really at a loss how to quilt this one.  I thought my dad would like minimal quilting.  The thread I used was awesome!  On top I used a 50 wt. gray variegated thread from a Tula Pink Aurifil set that was a gift from my friend Svetlana.  The bobbin thread is a 50 wt. dark blue from Aurifil.  I have never sewn with Aurifil 50 wt. thread but I can tell you my sewing machine really appreciated it!  I usually use whatever is on sale from Joann’s.  With the better thread I got absolutely no thread nests!!!  The machine ran so smoothly.  I think using the Aurifil really made a difference.

My husband didn’t like the backing fabric I picked so I mulled it over for about 10 seconds and decided to go with what I had in my stash, which is an old Moda Minnick and Simpson Wiscasset Bay blue paisley that I bought when I first learned to sew.  It’s not really my taste but I thought it fit this quilt pretty well and I didn’t have to buy anything, which is a plus.  I don’t think it’s too feminine.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts’s Finish It Up Friday.  Have a great weekend!