When I went to my crafting weekend the other week, I started several quilts. Most of them I had to finish once I returned home because I was short on one type of fabric or another. Well I’ve been busy getting those settled and ready.
I three more stadium quilts. One is blue and silver with crepe back satin backing – the color of one of the local high schools.
Blue and Gray Lap Quilt
Another one is maroon, black, and gold themed. It is the colors and mascot of one of the local high schools. It’s the section in which my church is located, and it’s also where my husband and many of my friends went. (My county is huge, and we have a ridiculous amount of schools.)
Brookwood High Broncos
The third one is another school’s colors -black and silver/gray. Those colors can be bland if you don’t use them correctly. In this case, I made simple blocks and used a pretty gray patterned fabric for the sashing to add texture and interest.
Black and Gray Lap Quilt
Another one I made using the split rail (aka rail fence) design, and it’s garden themed. I also used the cute pink fabric as part of the backing as well.
Garden Fence Lap Quilt
I have two others that are done, but I ran out of daylight to take pictures. I’ll check in tomorrow with their pictures.
I plan on selling these at the craft fairs or on my Etsy shop.
I know I mentioned “stadium quilts” in a previous post, so I figured I’d go ahead and discuss them. As said before, the whole idea of a stadium quilt is that it is usually in school colors and is 4’x4′. This isn’t the usual size of a lap quilt, but the logic was that at 4’x4′ it would be big enough to cover your lap while sitting on those wonderfully comfortable bleachers at football games while also being small enough not to drag around or have folks stepping on them. Of course, they also happen to be the perfect size for draping over the back of a couch or chair.
I happen to work for a particularly large school system that has over 20 different high schools. (This still baffles me as I graduated from an area with one high school for the whole darn county!) That being said, I figured that if I stuck to the basic colors of the local schools I’d happen to catch most professional and college team colors as well. One thing I know for sure – you Buckeye fans sure do love your Etsy stores. I probably get more hits on my Etsy store from Buckeye fans than from any other team.
When I decided to make the stadium quilt, I had two goals in mind. 1. Make some smaller quilts to sell ready-made on Etsy as well as at craft shows. My original lot was around 14 or so. 2. Use up as much of my fabric stash as I could without buying any more except for backing. I’ve mostly stuck to this, but I haven’t been able to resist the occasional gold or gray since they’re so wonderfully useful. I’ve also taken to strolling by the remnant bin at JoAnn’s and seeing if there’s any generic quilting fabric that is handy. The remnant bin and I are now officially old friends.
I also took some time and experimented with a new design – the “split rail,” aka the “rail fence.” I really liked it and had fun using it more. I also experimented using both cotton backing and flannel. After all, if the idea was to stay warm during games, then flannel was the way to go. In addition to my newfound appreciation for flannel, I also found that I simply LOVE crepe back satin. I used it in a couple of quilts and like the texture and sheen of it.
One color combo I was surprised looked as good as it did was the orange and blue. For the back of it, I found an orange and white tie-dye style flannel, and it looked great! I do think the rail fence styles look prettier overall.
Blue and Gray Lap Quilt #2
orange and blue stadium quilt – rail fence style
maroon and gold stadium quilt
green, gold, and navy blue checkerboard stadium quilt
green and gold stadium quilt
American flag themed stadium quilt
blue, gray, and white stadium quilt – quarters style
purple and gray stadium quilt – rail fence style
Red and black rail fence stadium quilt
Red, gray, and white stadium quilt – rail fence style
Red, gray, and white stadium quilt – quarters style
Maroon and gold checkerboard stadium quilt
Plaid flannel backing
Related Posts – mostly about using up your fabric stash:
My current situation is strange – much stranger than usual. I have a crafting weekend at the end of March, and last time I spent too much time cutting and not sewing. So this time I plan on mostly sewing. To get a head start, I’ve been making “kits” of precut fabric all ready to assemble. I’m up to 14 kits in various stages of readiness.
Last year I made around 14 4’x4′ quilts I called “stadium quilts”. The idea was that they were all in local school colors and could be used at games. They were big enough to cover a lap but small enough not to drag on the stadium steps. I’ve sold all those, so I plan on making more as well as some traditional lap quilt sizes. I’ve been having fun and trying to use up a fair amount of my stash to boot!
I think the kits are definitely the way to go. I have already “broken in to” a couple of them.
Quest Quilts 
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