Big Boy Quilt

I've been going through my photo files and came across pictures of my son's twin quilt. It's been done since last June, and he's been sleeping in it since then. So this is late in sharing, but with a project that takes that much attention, I have to share. 

His nursery had the following color scheme:

I had painted this canvas for his nursery. 

 I wanted to make the painting and the other details and pieces transition right into his big boy decor. Here's a picture of his nursery to give you an idea. I wanted to reuse the navy curtains and all the stuff on his shelves.

So I headed to my favorite local fabric shop Cabbage Rose to see if I could find some fabrics that would work. I needed 9 different fabrics for the design I drew up, and I came home with 8. I had some Heather Ross fat quarters at home that I thought I could use if I didn't find anything I liked better. So all together I had my 9 fabrics: 3 dark blue, 3 light blue, and 3 green.

I got to work cutting my squares . . . I needed 100.

 Then I laid them out on the floor. I didn't want the fabrics to repeat consistently, I wanted it random, so down they went.

Then I sewed each row together. Then two rows got sewn to each other. 

After sewing my five, two row pairings, I sewed in some gray sashing, and a gray border. Then it was time to quilt it. I considered machine quilting it, but since I hand quilted my older daughter's quilt, and loved the look so much, I finally decided that was the way to go. Up went the quilt frame, and the hand quilting began. I finished it in 3 days- a little here, a little there, till it was done.

Then, I trimmed down the batting and quilt back, sewed on some binding (machine sewed the first round, and hand stitched the top round to avoid seeing any machine stitches.) Then it was done and ready to get put to use! Our little guy wasn't quite ready to sleep in the big boy bed, and for the first week or so, he would ask for his crib. We put his crib in the toddler bed setting, and let him sleep there until he was ready. I think the little doggies, fish, and campers on the Heather Ross fabric helped him come around!

So here's what his room looks like today. We originally had the crib on the opposite wall from his bed, but we decided to give baby brother his own room for a while. So the room decor is in a transitional state for now. There are two of those bed frames that were my uncles' when they were little. Then my sisters and I used them, then our older daughter used it, and now it's the boys turn. I dream of the day when my two boys have their matching big boy beds lined up on the wall, but for now, at least one big boy has a cute quilt to sleep under.