A Two-Year-Old's Toybox

A few months ago, I bought these super fun things that go fabrics at my LQS's anniversary sale. I had 15 minutes on the meter and a fussy toddler who immediately brightened at the sight of these novelty prints, so they were a bit of an impulse buy. I wasn't sure what I would make with them, and so they sat until inspiration hit. (Well, they didn't really just sit. They soon became one of the Monkey's favorite playthings...)

Anyway, inspiration didn't hit until I saw Cheryl's fun Five quilt. It was perfect! I loved the idea of using large stripes of the fabrics so he could enjoy the prints (because, as I've found, toddlers know no moderation), and using an applique'd number to denote his age would be the perfect finishing touch for his birthday quilt. In the end, this quilt ended up looking less like Five than I'd planned, but so much more like a little boy's treasured toybox.

And so, "A Two-Year-Old's Toybox" was born. I've never named my quilts, but as I pieced it, I could only smile thinking how much the fabrics resembled the contents of the Monkey's toybox. The prints are bolder and brighter than I would choose for myself, but so perfect for a little boy. I added strips of colored fabrics as dividers between the novelty prints, making a sort of rainbow, and enclosed it all in a navy polka-dot box and a white outer border. It was so colorful, it just felt like it needed to be reigned it a bit.

I machine applique'd a big 2 (which, in hindsight, should have probably been a brighter color to pop out a bit more) for our little guy who loves numbers and as a design motif that would also one day remind us of the special occasion for which this quilt was made.

The back is probably my favorite part of it all. I used this fun and colorful polka dot fabric (the Monkey calls them "balls") and inserted a pieced strip. I love it. Still bright and colorful, but much more subdued than the front.

I initially wanted to do all over swirls and loops for the quilting, but was quickly veto'd by the Monkey, who found the loops over his trucks distressing. So straight lines it was, and I'm less than thrilled with the results, but he seems to love it. Who am I to argue?