van's quilt is finished!

Baby Van is now 4 weeks old!

So for his one month birthday, I gave him the quilt I made him...

I just finished binding it on Wednesday.

And there are a lot of photos so you can see just how crazy I went!

Since his daddy is a fan of all things traditional, (and by traditional I mean tattoos) I found some Sailor Jerry designs and made them into wool felt quilt blocks.

The swallow blocks took me the longest- about 8 hours each!

Dread Pirate Robins, of course.

Storm's a brewin.

Every quilt made as a gift needs a label.

(Really I just want him to remember how crafty auntie Jessica is.)

Holly at Elaine's Quilt Block did the machine quilting. I love the waves she did!

(She does this freehand, you know.) Amazing.

I fell in love with this fabric- it's what I based the whole thing from! It's also what is in the big blocks that are in between the detailed blocks.

For the binding I used my leftover strips from the tiny squares. It ties it all perfectly together.

When I finally sewed this all together, it was so off! And I kinda freaked out- but my mom saved the day and fixed it for me! Thanks mom!

I loved every minute of every month this took me to make. I know that Nan, Mike and baby Van will cherish and love it until it falls to pieces. (And then I can make a new one, right?)

While working on each block, I could just picture Mike as a father making up some of his famous stories for his son's bedtime...and Van will always remember those stories because he has something to hold onto, forever. I can't wait for that kid to grow up! And yet, he is growing too fast! We just saw him last night and he has some chub in his cheeks!

Wow. I'm a little choked up realizing that this is finished.

Definitely a masterpiece.