This quilt is for my in-laws.  When I first started thinking of a quilt for them, the colors red and gray stuck in my mind because they used these colors in some recent updates and redecorating in their home.  I don’t think there’s any real need for a quilt to match anything else in the house, but knowing that they like those colors gave me a starting point.  I tried to think of what else was important to them, and the first thoughts that came to mind were their grandkids and their love of being outdoors.   Although our daughters are older (20 and 15), most of their eight grandchildren are still small enough to crawl into their laps to hear a story.  That’s a special time that doesn’t last nearly long enough.  I’m hoping this quilt will help commemorate those special times spent with all their grandchildren and their own kids when they were little.

When I saw two Aneela Hoey fabric lines, A Walk in the Woods and Little Apples, I knew I’d found what I was after.  The colors were perfect, and they combined an outdoorsy feel with wonderful “magical childhood” images.  The two lines worked perfectly together.

The quilt design is Small Plates from Elizabeth Hartman‘s excellent book The Practical Guide to Patchwork.  The simple design frames fussy cuts and the overall layout has a nice sense of motion.  The back is a vintage sheet bought still “new in packaging”.  I love that it’s vintage AND new all at once.  (And while this was hanging outside, a honey bee investigated the flowers!)

It’s a twin size quilt, so they can use it in the spare room when grandchildren sleep over, but I think I’d be using it for some serious couch napping if it were mine.  I hope they’ll enjoy it!