Look what I found last night while searching through my photos. How could I forget about making this little cutie? This was a commissioned quilt for a friend of my dad who was expecting a new grandbaby. I made it last spring. Do you know how hard it is to make a quilt when you are given only the sex of the new baby. His friend had no idea my dad had asked me to make this quilt for her grandbaby and he didn't want to let her know by asking a bunch of questions.
My idea for a baby quilt is of course happy bright colors. However when doing my research for this quilt I found that nurseries/baby rooms are not so bright and happy these days. The style has changed a great deal since my kids were little. And my daughter is like me, she doesn't care to much about trends. She was completely happy with anything I gave her with each of the four grandchildren. So I took todays trend of boring and bland then added my touch of bright and happy.
The grandmother and mother loved it or so they said. No one is going to say they don't like a gift. I was feeling a little unsure of the real love for my creation until about a month ago. Dad told me of a conversation he had with the grandmother. She said she was babysitting her grandson for an afternoon when the he became very fussy and would not stop crying. She became anxious and didn't know what else to do so she grabbed this quilt and and laid it on him as she held him...and like magic he stopped crying. She said it was the weirdest and thing and works almost every time he's fussy. My dad being a spiritual man believes in energy, both positive and negative. He told his friend that quilting is my passion and it mends my soul. All positive energy goes into my creations. Does my energy pass through my creations? We'll never really know but I like to think that it happens. And I'm glad it gives the baby as well as grandma a little comfort and peace.
So why the trucks? Simple...I like trucks and trucks are trendy right now. From paper plates to fabric, you see old truck graphics EVERYWHERE. It seems everyone loves them, so why not try to take the bland baby look and add a little trendy truck color. I made it a bit larger than a baby quilt so he could use it longer. I started with 5.5" squares so that would make this 55" wide but I can't remember the length. The gray and white fabrics were purchased at Walmart and were prewashed. The truck fabrics were pulled from my solids stash and prewashed.
I love the truck trend because as a child my dad had an orange truck with white wood rails. He still has this old truck, it doesn't run and the rails are gone. He's plan is to restore it with the help of my nephew who you see in this picture. My nephew's passion is cars, he restores old cars and makes street racers for a living.
As most of you know I've made a few truck quilts in the past. The truck design for this quilt came about a few years ago when my mom was battling cancer. I didn't have much time back then for quilting. Being her caregiver and chauffer to all the appointments left little time for quilting let alone designing a quilt. So the next best thing is to buy a pattern. The cutest one at the time was a pattern called Vintage Christmas by Confessions of a Homeschooler, Cute quilt but I would have preferred applique so....
That quilt inspired me to quickly design a simple truck applique to put on a quick and easy chain quilt I was making.
And then I designed another after mom passed and I started selling patterns....
...and another small project...
...and the final one I designed and made. There are so many more designed but I haven't made. Maybe next year after all(most) the UFO's have been tackled I can get back to making more truck quilts. They are all super cute and with each one a little more applique has been worked into the design. Only time will tell because....SQUIRELL!
Until next time...
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
