Dirt bikes

It feels a little strange to return to business as usual after the devastation that ripped through my little corner of the world yesterday, but I suppose that's what you do. We were very fortunate and never even lost power, so I busied myself with my dirt bike quilt while I watched seven hours of severe weather coverage.

When I found out I was making a dirt bike quilt, I immediately remembered this quilt by Rebecca of Chasing Cottons. I thought the Michael Miller Extreme Team fabric would work well in an orange dirt bike quilt.


So, after lots of thinking and sketching, I came up with this plan. I just had a few fat quarters to work with, and one of them had a large-scale print, so I wanted to leave it in tact. That print became the center framed block. From there, I did some simple patchwork and added the little road.


And here's the top! I'm proud that I was able to execute my plan. (If you ever wonder why people sell simple quilt patterns, it's for people like me! The very basic math here just about melted my brain.)



This is the center panel. It's not exclusively dirt bikes, but I imagine the little dude I'm making this for will appreciate the other extreme sports too.



In addition to the orange solid (Kona Tangerine), I added in some blocks of Kona Aqua, which closely matches the icy blue accent in the Extreme Team fabric. I also added a few squares of Kona Ash just to round it out.


I have to admit the road was a last-minute addition to my plan, but I'm so glad I included it! I believe it makes the quilt, in my humble opinion. And I can just see the little boy who receives it driving his cars up and down it.


I had the pieces spread out on the floor when Luke woke up from his nap. He said, "Mommy! I like this one so much more than the one you made yesterday!" First reaction: Ouch! But then I remembered that he's my target market for this quilt, so he should like this one more than my Bottled Rainbows.

I'm thinking I'll continue the road motif on the back, but I'm not sure how to quilt it. Any ideas?