Gruff: A Finished Quilt

I have a whole new set of colleagues this year thanks to a change in my job, and one of these new friends/co-workers has three little boys, the youngest of which is almost one. The dad and I have formed a friendship and since the dad is an artsy sort of guy who expressed once his appreciation for fibre arts, I knew I wanted to make his little guy a quilt.

This Burly Beavers print that is making the rounds on Instagram seemed like the perfect fit for this rather hipster family. I pulled out some Carolyn Friendlander to go with it as it has that architectural quality, as well as some Cotton+ Steel. Simple 5" squares was the way to go for a straight-forward baby quilt that I know the family will enjoy.

The photo session for this quilt was particularly challenging because my usual quilt holder (my husband) is away for a week, so I had to enlist my eight-year-old. And it was a very windy day which is always awful for pictures. So this is an interesting bunch of photos! (Plus a bonus outtake photo of my helper).

Here is Gruff:

This was the best photo I could get, and it was on my phone instead of the camera. The jumping off point is those delightful beavers, but you can see some Friedlander, Jansdotter and C+S in there too.

The backing is more of that C+S print in silver (so it is metallic and slightly shiny) with some grey or the other from my stash to beef it up to the right size. You can really see the quilting in the photo. I straight line quilted on either side of each seam.

My cat was excited when I put the quilt on the floor to try to take photos. This one shows off the prints much more clearly. You know, under the cat.

And here is the full quilt, laying flat. With cat for scale.

And my helpful kid who complained her arms were hurting from holding up the quilt. "Now I know why Daddy always complains" she told me.

I am quite sure the dad to whom I am gifting this will be surprised and will love it. Can't wait to give it to him for his little guy to start enjoying it!