Quiltin' for my Honey

560 blocks! This is a big deal for me because as of yet I have yet to make a quilt bigger than a crib. But my babies are all grown up now, and I am inspired to dote on my Sweetie. And so in honor of him, it will be all guy. It is nothing frilly. It is all 4 1/2 " squares of guy stuff. Forks, spoons, lawn mowers, trailers, boots, dogs, roosters, camping scenes, coffee pots, coffee beans, owls, and mushrooms. My guy's kind of stuff. I even added the fabric from the 4, count 'em 4 button-down shirts he owned when I met him. All solids, all very worn, stained and sun faded. And yes, he knows I cut them up.

So we chose a plain and random square patch design. After I had cut out all of the many squares, I made little piles, each with only one of each fabric (more or less) to make sure I kept them all spread out evenly over the quilt top.

I so love Cassie's quilted pillow at yougogirl.typpad.com/you_go_girl/doodle_stitching/, so I added some doodle stitching, guy style on 8 1/2 " squares. I decided to personalize my sweetie's quilt with little sayings and images. Nothing frilly, mind you. Here's the first one:
Good words for any father of 3 girls.

The next one honors his culinary tastes, and the way in which he wants all of his birthdays and fathers' days celebrated:
I have 4 more to go before I can tackle this:

Daunting, yes. Impossible, no.

Eventually, his quilt will begin to look like this:
Here's a closer look at some of the fabrics:

(Yes there are flowers and some little hearts. Not too many, though.)

Hopefully it won't be long before I post again with tons of progress to show! By for now.