Someone is having a 60th birthday (no, not the Husband of Chiconia).
And he’s a big Canterbury Bulldogs ARL fan. So his dear wife decided that he deserved something a bit special, and that I was the person to make it (having made hers already). And so begins the fourth Footy* quilt I’ve made. It’s a simple pattern of large and smaller squares in two colours, with the team logo in the middle.
Seven blue fabrics, seven white/pale fabrics and three feature fabrics for the large squares. I’ve cut a total of 114 small blue squares, 114 white squares and 11 large squares. And that’s not including the two outer borders (one narrow one in white, one wider one in blue) and backing and binding.
That’s a LOT of cutting, but it’s easy work: press, fold, trim, slice, slice, slice, slice, slice, slice and slice again. The borders can wait till the main part of the front is finished.
I like making this quilt, it comes together easily and quickly, row by row. The initial layout’s the main thing; it takes a lot of space, and I like to make sure that the colour layout works – a patch of darker colours in one corner would not be a good look. Also, some of my ‘whites’ are actually very pale blue, and need to be matched with the darker blues where possible to give good contrast. I have a little spare of each colour in case substitutions are needed here and there. There are going to be some very nice scraps to play with afterwards, too!
In case you’re wondering about the prevalence of chevron fabrics, it’s totally planned, to tie in with the blue chevrons in the background of the logo.
I’m not greatly looking forward to the quilting part, because it’s a big quilt, nearly 90″ long, but it’s going to be cross-hatching, just like all the others before it. Simple, but pleasing.
My original design, now looking a bit battered after several outings…
I think this will be the last team quilt I make. I don’t want to repeat myself indefinitely, so unless there’s some really urgent need for another sporting blankie, I’m calling it full time on the Footy quilt. Meanwhile, into the scrum!
*Australia has 4 football codes: Rugby League, Rugby Union, Australian Rules and Soccer. And the greatest of these is Rugby League (Go the Storm). Not that I’m biased, or anything…
talltalesfromchiconia 
Gee whizz, another masterpiece coming up. You are too much, Mrs Chic.
I’d have liked a bit of a break, but the birthday is a deadline, wouldn’t you say? Not sure this quilt will qualify for masterpiece status, but it’ll make a very nice birthday gift!
It was great chatting yesterday. This foottie quilt is going to look wonderful, as the fabrics are lovely – good contrasts. I went back to look at your broken bottles posts,- I learn so much from all your tips! I once did a quilt on this design using a jellyroll, but struggled with my seam matching. Now I’m ready to try aother one!
It was fun, wasn’t it? The biggest tip I can give you when stitching jelly roll strips together is to handle them carefully, not pull them at all, and press them along a straight edge, very, very carefully or you end up with bananas!
How much time to get it done? I like the bulldog. My grandchildren’s school mascot is a bulldog too, but their colors are red and white. Happy quilting
It’ll take me a full day to get the layout done, 3 or 4 days to stitch the top together, another day to get the borders on it, a day to sandwich and about 3 days to quilt. A last day to bind it. A minimum of 12 days, say, but I won’t get 12 straight at it, it’ll be a few hours here and there.
gorgeous fabric colours. Good luck on yet another deadline ^^
They are lovely, aren’t they? I’m looking forward to finding a use for all the scraps!
You’ve chosen some stunning blues here and what’s not to like about having a dog placed in the middle of a quilt (rugby logo or not!). Is it a surprise for him or does he know about it?
The blues are beautiful, intense and rich. I’m eyeing each one avariciously, already planning what to do with the scraps… I don’t know if the Mrs has told the Mr, but she and I discussed this over a year ago, and finally my conscience and the nearness of the deadline have kicked me into touch. Sorry, couldn’t resist one final pun!
This looks lovely, but I think I will stick to crocheting football coloured blankets!
To each her own. All I can make with a crochet hook is a sad mess!
I’m sure it will be stunning and well loved by the birthday boy. 🙂 How long before it must be done? Great job of selecting colors.
A month, but I have a number of things happening in between now and then, including a 4 day trip away and some minor surgery! I need to get my skates on…
🙂 If I put skates on, I’d be in the hospital in short order. It will wait.
I’m sure it will be another masterpiece! My younger daughter just told me that the fates have come together so that she can go too the Rugby World Cup in London!! She just graduated college, and turned 25 this summer, so if she’s going to do that, now’s the time. She played rugby in high school and a little in college, and she loves the sport, so I’m hoping she’ll have the time of her life (and stay safe in the process).
Wow! A great opportunity she should seize with both hands. I’m deeply jealous…
Gorgeous quilt, and good timing, a month will give the birthday boy time to recover from the Bulldog’s exit from the finals, and hope for next years comp 🙂
Poor lad… He’s eyed off the wife’s Swans quilt for the longest time, but with the Big Birthday looming close she couldn’t deny him any longer!
… and as it turns out, they’re both in mourning for their teams, since the Swans were defeated last night. They can sit grumpily together criticising everyone else!
That’s funny😄. Maybe getting the quilt as a gift will perk him up and give him hope for next year.
We can only hope!
love the fabric !
So do I! I shall be quite sorry to see this one go.
why don’t you keep it for yourself then ? I have the same with my paintings, I don’t like to sell them….they are a bit like children for me
No, it’s promised for a birthday present. And I’ve made the same thing several times before, so I shall be ready to say goodbye once it’s finished.
Working with squares, trying to assemble them in the right and nicest way, isn´t the easiest thing to do 🙂 So you´re doing a great work!
I have learned that it’s much, much easier if you have enough fabrics to choose from. The first one I made, I only had 5 different reds and 5 different whites, and it was really hard. This time I have plenty of choice!