Christmas 2010

Alright, so if any of you have read my "About Me" and actually made it partway through I mention a quilt that really is the reason I jumped into quilting and started the blog, etc. etc.

I figured this was the perfect time..

The story goes like this..

Last year I started dating my boyfriend and he had seen the quilt on my bed (my mom and I made together) and being the sarcastic guy that he is - jokingly said I should make him a quilt for Christmas.

Let me put this into perspective for you - we started dating in April, he made this comment around July.

Well, by September I decided I would stick it to him that holiday season and I began my search for a simple enough pattern to follow, supplies I would need, etc. 

I began sketching out ideas, scouring the internet, etc. etc.

I finally found this pattern 

Well, being from New Jersey, my boyfriend is a DIEHARD Yankee fan, while I personally prefer not to watch baseball, just to be a nudge i'm a "Mets" fan.

I wanted this love of sports to play a part, I thought it might help him appreciate the quilt a bit more.

Well, the research for yankee cotton fabric began. I soon realized this would be out of the question.

Did you know that MLB fabric is EXPENSIVE??

Apparently the rights to make the fabric was only out for a few short years, as such, the quantity of fabric is minimal, so browsing ebay or other sights I was looking at sums of $20 for a 1/2 yard and more. As a broke college student this was OUT OF THE QUESTION.
Even now as a working girl.. still OUT OF THE QUESTION haha

So the colors were at least set - blue and white.
Then I started googling pattern ideas and I found this one..

Well, even though it gave measurements I really had no idea how much material I'd need, how many blocks, etc. 

My boyfriend has a queen size bed, so I was aiming HIGH.

 In process photos (how I managed to take these, pre-blogging and WHY I took them? Idk.)

 massive.
unfortunately the "wrong" side of it, I was getting ready to back it..

The ONLY picture of the backing.. which is fleece (apparently the only fabric from MLB you can still get with logos)

Then, the big reveal.. needless to say boyfriend was super confused why I was step by step documenting his reaction (my mom was so upset she wasn't there to see it, so I promised to document)

still kinda confused...

(Anyone else notice the amazing quilt already on his bed?!??! 

His grandmother was a quilter, I LOVE this quilt)

Shock is setting in..

In ALLLLL its GLORY :)

(unfortunately the only picture of it all laid out, and boyfriend won't let me take it outside now and take current pictures because of its size)

Happy boyfriend.

This was pre-machine binding and quilting knowledge, so its actually turned on the edges and "quilted" with ties throughout the quilt. This was also pre-cotton batting, so the polyester stuff is FLUFFY.

Regardless, boyfriend has seen newer quilts with more experience and still favors his, so if he's happy, i'm happy. 

Remember how I said I didn't know how much fabric I'd need? Oh yeh, tons of scraps (front and backing) so his mother is getting a lap quilt this Christmas with the same fabrics :)

I've been meaning to write about this quilt for some time and

 thanks to the Bloggers Quilt Festival 2011 I decided to do just that.

:)