Craft CRAZZY!

Fall of 2011 was the first semester I had not been in school. I went a little craft crazy with the assistance of Pinterest. I decided to start knitting again which quickly turned into making EVERYTHING, literally EVERYTHING, from scratch. First, I knit a hat for Patrick which I gave to him but then demanded it back since I was unsatisfied with the results. Knitting is so unforgiving. Second, I found a cool headband/neck warmer pattern on Pinterest. It seemed easy enough and it involved a button. (I LOVE looking at all the unique buttons at quilt shops, but I never have a use for them.) I also thought I could knit  these quickly and give them as Christmas presents. My finished product was alright, I am not in love with it and many people have said it looks Russian. (I really love the button though!)

I also knitted myself a pair of leg warmers. Again, the pattern called for 14 buttons, YESSSSS. I wish I wouldn't have been cheap and would have bought two skeins of yarn because I wish they were a bit longer. (Again, knitting is SO unforgiving) Although I don't really care for them as leg warmers, I wear them with my boots and I LOVE them! 

Back in August I started making a quilt for Patrick for Christmas. He told me about his frustration trying to find a blanket that he could actually wrap up with. My brother is about the same height and has expressed the same "blanket frustration" to me before. I was determined to make a manly quilt! I have made quilts for men before and it is always so difficult, but I have narrowed it down to two key things:

1. Find the right FABRIC: Usually when I make a quilt I start by finding a pattern I like and working off of that. Since there is not a wide selection of "manly looking" fabric I find the fabric I want first. For this quilt I knew I wanted to use flannel. I personally LOVE flannel and I knew Patrick would like it.

2. Find the right PATTERN: I have found most square or rectangle patterns work best for men because the pattern design isn't complicated so I can use mismatched fabric to create the design. For Patrick's quilt I decided on the Log Cabin pattern. I had never used that pattern and I thought it would work well with the flannel I bought. 

Different border options. I went with the orange.

Although I decide on fabric first I usually don't buy it until I know how much I need. NOT the case this time! I just started buying flannel. 1/3 of a yard of each. I found 25 different flannels and got to work. 

I didn't follow the actual Log Cabin pattern because I like quilts that look like they were formed from scraps. After making my Grandma's Flower Garden quilt, which I call "The Hexagon Quilt" I was shocked at how fast this came together. I used the same concept for both quilts, cut all the fabric up, arrange it, re-arrange it, start sewing, re-arrange more, sew more, re-arrange etc etc. Using this technique I have basically removed the dreaded SEAM RIPPER from my work. I try to not get stuck on how something should look and go with my mistakes because I FRIGGIN HATE THE SEAM RIPPER!!! A nice tip my mother told me when I was young was that "something homemade always has a flaw". SO TRUE! I started to realize that the flaws in my work were only noticeable to me and that I could easily disguise them. 

ANYWAY, I got the main blocks done and Mom saw them, a week later she had 7 different bolts of flannel at my house. Savin me BIG COIN Joodles! All the flannel except the main blocks was a generous donation from her. I really liked the orange plaid to join the blocks together, unfortunately I got it all cut up and found I was 8 pieces short! I thought I did the math right and that I would have enough fabric, but I now know not to trust my math after a few glasses of wine! Mom would be EXTREMELY unhappy if I cut up all that fabric and didn't use it. So I went with it. I re-arranged some pieces and realized I would just do a different fabric in all the corners. I chose a red and blue plaid for the corners which looked good, until I put the outside border on. I HATE the corner pieces, but this is another wonderful thing about making a quilt for a guy...THEY HAVE NO IDEA. 

AWFUL corner pieces! I'm over it. 

My mom's friend did the top stitching for me, I threw a binding on it and it was done! Patrick opened it on Christmas Day, stood up and wrapped it around himself and said, "It fits me!!!" He loves it! 

Finished!