The “Bros” Quilts

A few months ago we found out that our good friends, Austin and Ruth were expecting TWIN boys!!! We were so excited for their news and, of course, my first thought was about quilts. I had made this quilt for their first child, Bo…..

….and I wanted to make something similar for the “Bros” that were to come.

I found this wonderful book and knew that I was on my way…..

First step was to make the paper pieced animal blocks, which I discussed in this blog post….. https://francesquilts.com/2019/05/27/paper-piecing-at-its-best/

Now to think about the rest of the quilt!!! I knew that I wanted to keep it in a similar vein to Bo’s quilt so there would be lots of strips. Ruth and I had talked about using greys and reds and I came across a fabric set that I had bought for another potential project (that never materialized) and I was off!!

I used the 1/4 inch foot on my machine and it made sewing the strips SOOO much faster and easier AND more accurate!!….

And, staying in the vein of “upping my game”, I spent a lot of time ironing each strip, spraying it with Magic Sizing and stretching it to the side as I was pressing it to ensure that the rows stayed straight…..

Before long the quilt tops were complete…..

I wanted to use these quilts for additional FMQ practice so I decided to work on a bunch of different designs, each following one of the strips. I did a number of them using various rulers….

….and was pretty happy with the results. I especially liked this ruler…..

….and really liked the quilted design that came from it…..

I did have to use masking tape on the ruler to ensure that I kept the design going down the middle of the strip. It was NOT intuitive!!

I also found that, if I was using an undulating pattern, it was important to only stop and reposition the ruler when I was at one of the “hooks”…..

If I repositioned anywhere else on the quilting line it distorted the design and I lost the symmetry of the quilt line. This is something that I probably should have thought about before now, but it took having to re-do it a couple of times to get it fully into my mind!!

I enjoyed trying different patterns and designs and the long strips were perfect for practicing. Here is what some of the quilting looked like on the back…..

When I finished with the quilting, I used the Laser Square and my 16 inch ruler to make sure that the sides were completely straight and the corners at 90 degree angles…..

I chose to put the binding on by machine, going very slowly and working on the corners very carefully. I am constantly reminded that the last judge REALLY didn’t like my corners and I am trying to do better with them!!!

At last, they were finished and I am super happy with how they came out…..

Once I had heard that there were twin boys I started calling them “Bo and the Bro’s”…..I know it sounds like a singing group!!! And sweet Bo cant say my name, Frances…..so he calls me “Fre-Fre”….it is heart melting!!!! When I put these two facts together, the name for the quilts came easily, as did the signature line on the label…..

It was so much fun to work on these two quilts and think of the fun times that the boys will have on them…..here’s to lots of spit-up, poop, ice cream cone drips and hopefully cuddling under them for nap times!!!

This blog is linked to “Favorite Finish” at Meadow Mist Designs……..