Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Robot Quilt with Plans of World Domination {or at least...bed domination?}

My youngest son, Sam, is crazy about robots. I mean, crrrrrraaaaaazzzzzzy.

And since he needed a quilt for his bed, I searched all over the web for a robot quilt or bedspread to buy or a pattern of a quilt I wanted to make. But didn't find either that quite matched what I was picturing.

So, then I decided to design my own.

And...I gave the unfinished quilt to my son a year and a half ago.

For his birthday.

And then....I had a hard time finishing it.



I meant to get back to it quickly after his big day. But I didn't think about the next three birthdays in the family within the next month. And then the summer got busy. And then...and then....a year and a half passed.

Yes. I'm aware. I'm a stinky mom.

Every now and then he'd say things like, "You need to finish my quilt, mom." But mostly he was very sweet and not pushy at all. So, then, of course, I felt worse.

I made a decision last month. I couldn't craft or make anything else for Christmas presents unless I finished that quilt.

And I did it!

Granted, I didn't make any other presents, but I got this quilt done*.

So, how do you give a gift again that you've already given? Well, my Sam is always searching for underwear. I don't know what happens to his. I mean, where does it go? So, I bought him a bunch, put the quilt in the bottom of a big box, covered it with layers of tissue paper and then laid out the selection of underwear, some  covered with robots.  


"You always need underwear," I told him when he opened it.


But then he found the tissue paper underneath and tore it away. One robot peeked out. "YOU FINISHED IT?!"

And then he became a blur of joy.



It was so nice to finally give this to him. It's been on his bed ever since, unless he's pulled it off to snuggle with it on the couch.  
Applique Robot Quilt Tutorial 

Step #1: I decided I wanted to do really big quilt blocks. And then I took big sheets of paper, drew the size of blocks I was making and drew big robots. I looked at loads of robots on-line and then some I just made up. I had fun with this part...


In case you're wondering, wrinkling the paper is not part of the process.
This one was kicking around in my sewing room for...um...the past long while. 

Step #2: Time to start appliquing those robots. I traced the fabric-bots onto fusible webbing and got busy fusing the different pieces to fabric. You can see a cute video my friend did about doing appliques on her blog, The Life of a Cheap Chickadee.




Step #3: {Optional} Wait months and months before you get the blocks out again. 

Step#4: Machine applique your robots. 

Step #5: Sew blocks together, add borders, layer with middle and backing (I used a green minky) and quilt. Ta-duh! Your robots are ready to conquer a bed near you!

These two are my favorites.



*Disclaimer: And I when I say it's done...I mean, um...it's mostly done. For example, as I was laying it out I noticed a few of the robots have antennas missing the wires connecting them to the top of their heads. So....I'll be hand sewing some wires real soon. Hopefully they won't take me a year and a half.

Linked up to...(Alright, I figured out how to make these smaller...but now I can't figure out how to get them all together! Anyone know?)


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33 comments:

  1. Great quilt! So creative. I'm sure he'll treasure it for years to come. Well done, Mom!

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  2. You have a wonderful sense of color -- a vivid quilt like this would light up any kid's life. I guess your son is just the lucky one. Nice going.

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  3. That is the cutest quilt ever. You should market your pattern! I love the fun, vibrant colors.

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  4. This is awesome! I've heard those, When are you going to finish... questions from my son as well. I'm in love with this quilt!

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  5. Cute! Love this! We would love for you to share this at our Kitchen Fun and Crafty link party! http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2013/01/kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday-link-party.html?m=1

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  6. What a cute quilt! At least you finished it...I've done the same thing! Love your son's exuberance!

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  7. This quilt is AH-mazing! Seriously kuddos. My boys would go coo-coo for it.

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  8. Oh man I'm so impressed with your mad quilting skills! I also have a Sam and he would go bonkers for this.

    And I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one who takes months to finish a quilt.

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  9. Beautiful quilt! I used to quilt before I had kids, but sadly haven't gotten around to it for a couple of years now. I have a few unfinished projects sitting in my closet. This robot quilt is just gorgeous, however!

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  10. that is seriously stinking cute! I wonder if I could crochet a robot quilt?

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  11. Fantastic quilt - you've got one lucky son! (Stopping by from Kathe with an E blog hop!)

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  12. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your robot quilt!!! The bright colours work so well and your robots are AWESOME. I would be interested in buying a pattern for this quilt if you ever decide to sell it. I know a little someone who would be wrapped if I made it for him. Here's a link to a tutorial I've written on Aligning Blog Buttons . I would love you to share your robot quilt at our Ongoing Link Party that's just for Quilting and Patchwork

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  13. Saw your quilt @ Threading My Way and like Pam, I just LOVE it! Your son is very lucky - the blur of joy picture actually made me a bit weepy, it's so sweet!

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  16. Hi!!!! I can not tell you how much I love this quilt!!!!! Have you made a pattern for this??if so can I buy one??? Please email me.... lil_princess242000@yahoo.com

    Thank you and what a great job!!!!

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  17. I hope when my guy gets a little older, he will be that excited about a quilt I make him. He is 2 and his little brother is 3 months. I have so many orders rolling in for crocheted hats and blankets and quilts, neither of my boys have very many mommy-made treasures. Each boy has one crocheted blanket from mommy. This week, I realized that half the kids in my town (HUGE EXAGGERATION) have a Meredith-made beanie, but my boys didn't. So the past few mornings while my husband has been driving to work, I have been crocheting them hats in the passenger seat. Take a peek at the crocheted blanket I made while I was pregnant with my little guy.
    http://scrapstashstudio.blogspot.com/2015/04/thankful-thursday.html

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