The Open Road

 

The plan (before fabric modifications)
After finishing "Bear Country" I immediately started thinking about making a lap quilt for my brother.  Our mom made him a bed quilt years ago but he won't use it because he's worried the pets will ruin it.  While I understand that, I'm hoping he will use this quilt without worrying about it getting used and abused.  As far as I'm concerned they are meant to be used and worn out, and if he DOES wear it out I can always make him another one!

I am using almost the exact pattern I worked out for Bear Country except with an added 1" border to break up the two black ones and obviously with a change in fabrics.  It's amazing how a different fabric can change the whole feel of a project.  He is a motorcycle enthusiast and I'm using motorcycle fabrics in oranges, blacks and greys.  To me the bear paw pattern looks like flames, which is kind of perfect for a motorcycle theme.

Because I ordered the fabrics online it wasn't until I was cutting out that I realized the motorcycle background fabric wasn't quite the right colour and it was also too busy for the background.  I then went to Lens Mills in London and found a better match with motorcycles on a back background with orange flames coming out of the exhaust; perfect!  I used this new fabric for a 4" outer border and used a solid beige for the background.

I tried to do a bit of fussy cutting to keep a lot of the cool details of the fabrics.  While many of them don't immediately jump out at you, I can see him picking up on a number of items as he looks at it over time.  There are motorcycles (of course), V-twin engines, spark plugs, piston and con-rod assemblies, just to name a few.  The finished quilt is 70" square, so it can be thrown on a queen bed or used as a large lap blanket.  

I'm feeling pretty confident that he is going t love this.

  

  






  

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