Q is for Quilt

And F is for Finished!!!!!  Yay!  Finally a finish to share.  This is "AJ's Letters", a quilt for my great-nephew.

Now, I am far too young to be a Great -Aunt, but, my niece and her husband had a darling little baby boy four months ago.  His name is Alexander Jeffery, but his Mama and Daddy call him AJ.

I had started these Little Letters from Temecula Quilt Company during the summer of 2014, long before we knew there would be a sweet little boy who would need a quilt.  I just thought they looked like a fun challenge.  I pieced them, and a sister set, slowly and when I had time.  They got set aside frequently, but were a ton of fun to work on when I did find time.

When my niece told us she was expecting, I knew right away that one of the sets of letters would become a quilt for her new arrival.  She has always been an avid reader, she is a certified teacher,  and before becoming Mommy, she was managing a bookstore.  So, letters seemed appropriate!  She's also pretty special to me.  When my youngest daughter was born and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, Jen was a college student.  She went to school about half an hour from where we lived, but for an entire school year, she came to our house on days she didn't have class, and took care of my newborn when I had to go back to work.  She learned all about administering medicine and doing breathing treatments and chest physiotherapy.   She took notes and  was the BEST of the small army of caregivers we relied on.  And she was just 19 or 20!   I will forever be grateful for her.

So, a quilt for her first baby needed to be pretty special, and I think this fits the bill.

I was so excited to learn that they were going to call him AJ!  How perfect is a letter quilt for a little boy with two letters for his name?

I machine quilted in the ditch,  and then on the diagomals, but I also did just a bit of accent hand quilting around the A and the J.  Just enough to make them stand out a bit.

I am so happy to have this quilt finished.  Its been a long process.  I had really wanted to have it done before the little man was born, but he is already 4 months old.  I have a lot of other sewing projects going on right now, or needing to be started soon.  So, I've  put extra effort into just getting it done so I can move on.   I've taken this quilt to karate class, the orthodontist and 4-H meetings to get it done.  Which has led to some interesting conversations!

The back is pieced from two flannels, so it's going to be a very snuggly quilt for the little guy.  I went with a scrappy binding, which just makes me happy.  I love everything about this quilt.  Well, except for the fact that being called a "great aunt" makes me feel really old.  Hmmm.  Maybe I will be "awesome" instead.