I ( or eye) Spy quilts are nothing new but they continue to be a great way to make a child a fun and interesting quilt with tons of fabrics and lots of easy sewing since mostly we are talking 5 inch charms or 3-4 inch strips so that the motifs are easy to recognize.
Yes, there are power quilters out there doing fussy-cut postage stamp spy-quilts, bless them and I will leave them too their madness. What I am making is a rough and tumble quilt to engage my grandson no matter if it is being snuggled with in his bed or dragged out into his back yard fort. I am looking for fast, colorful and quilted to take lots of washing! (Shameless advocacy alert for using quilt shop quality cottons when able since they will keep their color ages longer than lower quality fabrics from big box fabric stores)
Running Short on Time?
While I have 100’s of fabrics in my own stash I will admit that I took the easy way out and bought from a well rated seller on etsy so I could get 100 different children’s prints without the wear and tear on me standing and cutting for ages. Then I am adding special fabrics with the help of some BadAss friends that are unique to my grandchild and their life.. love of trains, acorns, Mario, and Bucee’s ( yeah weird I know).
Something for the Caregivers
I am also adding fabrics that I know will tickle his parents and for those I go to my stash from my favorite progressive fabric store Five Little Monkeys Quilt Shop.. they have some of the COOOOOOLEST fabrics and if you are looking for unique, geeky fabric they are going to be your go-to! ( seriously, they are OUR PEOPLE, and I am proud to say they are MY QUILT STORE IN MY MAILBOX.. so if you don’t love your local quilt store for whatever reason please check them out!!)
K.I.S.S.
The quilts themselves are dead simple to make. Do not complicate things – you know what we say – Just make the fucking quilt . Just decide how large you want the quilt, I suggest a good snuggle size since a bed size would be sort of overwhelming. Then sew those blocks together and quilt that thing. Stitch in the ditch or something simple is all it needs for quilting. Honestly this should the the fastest quilt you have ever made.
Now let’s kick it up a notch!
Want to be a little extra, well here is your chance. After the quilt is made go through it block my block and make a list of what is on each block and type this out boldly in a check-list form ( I will be sharing mine later this week over in Instagram)..
- Make the first list simple for the youngest of kids. Bears, bugs, Planes, dinosaurs etc, or even more simple, Animals. tools, plants.
- Next, create a second sheet for ideas that are more complex- specific animals, toys, characters
- You can go even further with prompts – Can you find X things that start with the letter B? ( and make sure there are X things)
- If you have a child who loves stories tell them a “One row story”.. using the items in one row of the quilt in a made up story.. my kids LOVED these!
When your lists and prompts are done print them out and take them over to the office supply store and have them laminated to stay together for the long haul.
A couple last suggestions
When looking for fabrics try for as broad a collection as possible. Making sure images are inclusive and not a bundle of sexist clap-trap like all pink things for girls or blue for boys. While she might indeed like fairies that does not mean she isn’t down for some dinosaurs and while tools are great how about some cuddly kittens and few flowers for that young boy in your life. While it can seem like a small thing the images we surround our little loves with matters and this is your chance to add a dash of equality into their life while having a ton of fun as well. ( I mean you KNEW I was going to sneak some social justice in there didn’t you?)
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BadAss Quilters Society offers both support and community to liberal sewists, quilters, crafters and those who care about changing the world to be a more fair and justice minded place for all. We believe that Love is Love, Science is Real, Black Lives Matter, Reproductive Rights are Human Rights and that being neutral and not speaking out puts you on the side of the oppressor. And while we are not currently the dominate force in the crafty landscape we can be the strongest, loudest and best examples of what it means to be truly good humans living their lives on the right side of history. If this is you, welcome, you have found your people.
