A Special Quilt for My Son

The Pottery Barn Kid's quilt that I purchased for my son's "big boy" room needs to be replaced.  Mr. B's nursery was a nautical theme.  When he moved out of the crib into his "big boy bed", I continued the same nautical theme by purchasing him a sailboat quilt and matching bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.  Not only is the quilt showing signs of wear, but I think at the mature age of eight, Mr. B has outgrown his sailboat quilt.

Ever since I began quilting just a couple of months ago, I have found myself searching other quilting blogs and Flickr quilt pools for ideas.  I have been overwhelmed by all of the cool inspiration for quilts that the Internet provides.  I am amazed by all of the wonderful quilts that others have created.  When I decided to make this quilt, choosing one quilting pattern out of the multitude of amazing quilt patterns that I have come across was a difficult decision.  The final decision came down to a simple block pattern versus a more modern, square in square pattern.  I have decided to make the square in square pattern quilt because I think it will add a more modern feel to the very traditional, shirting fabrics that I am using.  I loved the beautiful, square in square quilt that I saw on Fresh Lemon's blog, and I am following the wonderful, free tutorial on her blog to make my quilt. http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=561

Finding good fabric choices for an eight year old boy has proven to be a challenge.  When I  came across some quilts made from Men's upcycled, dress shirts, I decided that shirting fabrics would be the perfect choice for a quilt for my son.  I wanted to choose fabrics that would not seem too juvenile as he gets older.  Several of the fabrics that I am using are upcycled, oxford shirts from my husband and son's closets.  However, the majority of the fabrics are Pima cotton fabrics that I purchased specifically for this project.  Mr. B helped me choose the fabrics from the store yesterday, and I have to say that I think we made some really good choices. 

I wanted the quilt to be primarily composed of blue fabrics with a few smatterings of reds in some of the smaller squares in the quilt.  I recently purchased a new lamp and curtains from Pottery Barn for him that I like, so it was important to match those existing items.  I am really excited about this quilt.  Thankfully, my wonderful husband is helping me by cutting the pieces as I write this post.