A Big Boy Bed Truck Quilt Finished

Our sweet boy, Dominic, will be three (3!!!) in just two short days.  Man, that boy stole my heart from the get-go in the hospital by grasping my finger.  The pattern, I Love Dirt, was picked up in early 2018, almost before he was born.  The backing was also picked up with him in mind.  We knew at some point he’d need a big boy bed quilt and this blue/gray Grunge-ish fabric would be perfect.  This month, all those thoughts did compile into one big boy finished truck quilt just for him!

Truck of Big Appliqué

This project has landed a few times on the weekly To-Do listings.  Each of the 15 blocks involved a lot of appliqué which took about two weeks.  Here is my favorite block, the reverse side of a dump truck, along with one of the many wheels under the needle.  The ‘dirt’ in the dump truck is a brown polka dot!

Big Boy Truck Borders

It didn’t take long before we had the quilt top complete with cornerstones and two-colored sashing strips.  We took this photo and then wondered if borders might be needed? 

Yes, indeed.  They will finish off the piece quite nicely and add just a bit more to the width and length.  We are using the same nameless fabric as the backing and binding (why doesn’t the manufacture label the selvage?).  It looks rather Grunge-ish in a mottled print.

Quilting a Big Boy Truck Quilt

Those 3″ borders really add a nice frame around the whole piece and we think it was a good addition.  Layering on the kitchen island saves our knees and allows me to iron everything nice and flat.  Since the quilt top is bigger than the island in both directions, it hangs over the edges in this shot.

We pop in a few pins here and there, and I’m off to begin the crosshatching.  While I planned on using a different quilting design in my mind for months, Dominic likes the look of diamonds formed by the crosshatch.  Auntie Sue reminded me so her logical request made sense.  Why reinvent the wheel and make it harder than it needs to be?!

Truck Quilting Not Without Issue

Just when you (meaning me) think this should be a snap, a problem arose before the piece was half quilted.  One of my beloved dump truck pieces had been missed in the appliqué process.  After some major crabbiness on my part, Sue came up with the obvious solution that it needed to repaired BEFORE quilting continued.  So, I did repair it.  Before you could blink, it was half quilted and then fully quilted.

Binding also went on without issue, allowing plenty of time for hand stitching it down.  We both relish that final process so much but I hogged all of that enjoyment with a finish on Friday night.  Saturday we washed and dried it and snagged a picture. Now I’ll go over it with a fine-toothed comb for any errant pieces like in the picture above.  A little hand applique and it will be worthy of giving it away to a sweet, sweet boy.

A Big Boy Truck Quilt OMG

For August, this quilt was our focus and our monthly OMG project.  We did complete the goal by adding the borders, layering, quilting, and adding a binding.  I will be linking this up on Patty’s Elm Street Quilts finish linky party before the 31st.  This is also another item on our third quarter finish-along goal list!  Ch-ch-check!  #2020falq3finish

Join us each Tuesday for our hosted linky party called To-Do Tuesday.  Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link above or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!

Sharing