#80: Brooks' Auburn Herringbone

Some of my best friends live on the internet. My fellow December 08 mamas have become some of my closest friends over the last nine (!) years. I've mentioned them before as I shared quilts I made for Kim's babies, Piper and Branch, Erin, Davinder, and Angie.

This is a good reminder that I never shared Piper's quilt, which I made in 2014 as my 21st quilt. Piper's Mom is one of my favorite Canadian's so I made a feminine Maple Leaf quilt.

Back to my latest quilt. Erin, Davinder, and Beth all announced their pregnancies around the same time. Feeling optimistic, I started buying fabric for all three babies. Beth and her husband are die hard Auburn fans and alum. There was no question the baby boy's quilt theme would be Auburn.

Here in Ohio, the only Auburn prints I could find were online, so I ordered a few and started on the other quilts while I waited for them to arrive. And then I made some other quilts, too!

I ultimately decided to go with a herringbone pattern. I made one before, a Viking/Packer quilt for my brother and SIL.

For this quilt, I decided to make the navy blue the constant. I'm getting much more comfortable with Electronic Quilt 7 with each quilt I design.

I worked on these blocks in between working on other quilts.

Sewing half square triangles (HSTs) are great practice in lining up points.

My initial plan was to make a 40"x40" square quilt, just the right size for a baby.

But while I blinked, baby Brooks grew to 9 months old! So I decided to add a few more rows to make into a toddler quilt.

My original plan for the back was a simple orange minky. Unfortunately, the yardage was just a skootch too narrow for it to work. My second option was to use the blue, but Moda has discontinued that particular shade of the grunge line. I did have a good amount of the Auburn print. Not enough for the whole back, but enough for me to come up with plan C.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the letters for "War Eagle" and "Brooks," the baby's name.

I wasn't able to make the Auburn interlocking logo on my Silhouette, so I handcut two versions of it, one in white, and a slightly smaller one in navy.

I appliqued the letters and logo. Then sewed the orange strips to the Auburn print.

Ready to sandwich!

I don't often post photos of the sandwiching process anymore because it's not that exciting, but I do have people ask me how I sandwich my quilts so this time I happened to take a picture. I spent the week of my son's spring break playing nurse as he was sick the whole week with bronchitis. We watched lots of movies to keep him still (and quiet) once he started feeling better (and before I got sick!) Can anyone guess which 80s classic we introduced him to here?

I sandwich my quilt on a table in our basement using 2" clamps I bought at Home Depot.

I quilted by echoing chevrons.

I'm happy to report that after 80 quilts, my bindings are starting to look more consistent. This time, when I clipped the binding down, I used my seam guide to make sure the width was consistent. I'm not certain that 1/2" was exactly where it needed to be, but my binding was very even, which thrills me.

Once I get my machine binding mastered, I may attempt hand binding at some point...if I'm patient enough!

Since we don't have a lot of Auburn fans here in Ohio, I tried to use up the scraps a bit with some  extras.

To see more pictures of this quilt in progress, look for #AuburnHerringbone on Instagram.  If you'd like to see what I'm currently working on, follow me at de Jong Dream House.

Linked to:
Craftastic Monday @ Sew Can Do