Sunday, November 10, 2013

Star Trek Baby Quilt - For the Boys Blog Hop

This is a quilt that I made several months ago, and have just been waiting for the right time to show it off.

I thought using it in the For the Boys Blog Hop from sewwequilt.com would be perfect timing.
 http://www.sewwequilt.com/
Our two oldest kids are adopted in open adoptions, so that brings with it all kinds of interesting family connections.  This quilt was made for my daughter's newest half-brother.  Baby's dad (my daughter's birth dad) is a big Star Trek fan, so I thought we'd cater to his tastes on this one.  I emailed him and asked him who his favorite Star Trek character was...and his reply was Scotty.  Not knowing much about Star Trek, I did a little online research (mean...a 1 minute google image search to find out that Scotty wore a red uniform.


So I ordered 1 yard of the solid Kona Poppy red fabric and 1 yard of licensed Star Trek fabric (affiliate links).  I had a general idea in my head of keeping it really simple with just the solid color with the communicator symbol.  It wasn't until the night I sat down to actually put the quilt together that I discovered all the red-shirt jokes.  Remember...as geeky as our family is, I'm just not a Trekkie, so I didn't realize the red-shirts are always the expendable ones.

But I had the fabric, and his favorite character was Scotty, so I went ahead anyway.  The communicator symbol and outline are from black and gold Kona cotton scraps and machine appliqued on using Heat'n Bond Lite (affiliate link) adhesive and a tight zigzag stitch.  The engineering symbol on the communicator was too fine to for me to want to do applique...the whole thing would be pretty much been covered with the thread, so I used some freezer paper stencil for that part instead.

The real inspiration that I think really made the whole quilt come together came with the quilting.  I was having a hard time deciding what pattern to use to quilt it because I really didn't want the quilting to distract from the simplicity of the design.  Then at the last minute it hit me...I needed to do a bunch on converging lines to resemble the way the stars look when the star ships jump to light speed.  And then as one really last minute stroke of genius...I added a small USS Enterprise heading into the point of convergence.

I really think that's what brought the whole quilt together.

I used red thread for the quilting so that it wouldn't really show on the front, and I really liked the effect it ended up having on the back.


We mailed it off a bit before Katie's baby brother was born.  Her birth dad and his wife loved it, although with the Star Trek themed outfits we made to go along with it, but those will have to be saved for another blog post.

Know any Trekkies expecting a baby soon?  Even without being a Trekkie, I liked the design of this quilt that I wanted to make another one.  I have a yellow "command" uniform quilt all basted and ready for quilting.  I'll get it finished and listed in my shop eventually, but if you know someone who would like a Star Trek Themed baby quilt soon, email me and I could get it finished and we could talk about pricing.

Join in the rest of the For the Boys Blog Hop by checking out the other blogs posting today.


If you're visiting for the first time today from the Blog Hop, you might want to browse through my other quilting projects.  Most of them can be found here on my Pieces by Polly Quilt page.
http://www.piecesbypolly.com/p/quilts.html

I'm also currently hosting a Quilt-Along to make a Nativity in the Trees Quilt.  We're just starting, so there is plenty of time to join.
http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/11/fabric-selection-nativity-in-trees.html

Please show my sponsors some love...
Julia Rotham Ride Bikes from Quilt Sandwich
Spring House/Queen Anne fabric from You Keep Me in Stitches

Dr. Seuss Fat Quarter Bundle from Sisters and Quilters
Modern Black and Gold Hexies Baby Quilt - Pieces by Polly

I'll be linking to:
SixSistersStuff.com Tip Junkie handmade projects make it wear it   Photobucket Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party! Fresh Poppy DesignOr so she saysSo I Married A Craft BloggerWIP Wednesday at Freshly Piecedseven thirty threeSomewhat Simple   I Quilt @ Pretty BobbinsThe Girl Creative


Pin It

68 comments:

  1. I like the simple quilting pattern and Scotty is AWESOME. He's the only red shirt that some how keeps sticking around, so this quilt works just great. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is a great quilt. We watched the new Star Trek just a couple of nights ago. Very coolio!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great gift!
    Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My husband would LOVE your quilt. Quilting the Enterprise is very clever idea. Your quilt looks fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  5. YOU are a BEAM Of light today..you will see…totally cute

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very clever design and the quilting is truly inspired.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love it. There are so many star trek fans in our family that I would need to make a bunch of them. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a simple design but great impact. I love it. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. The boys will love it, with all it's meaning!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Perfect quilt for a Trekkie...love it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cute idea. very Trekkie. thanks for sharing it with us.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great job! Thank you for sharing you Star Trek quilt with us today!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like your idea. You did a terrific job.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great job, love how your quilted it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wonderful job! The quilting makes the quilt! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your quilting is perfect...what a wonderful gift !

      Delete
  17. That's just awesome!! I'm a total trekie!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh so simple and so cute. The quilting is wonderful. I really like how you did it. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm not a trekkie but I love that quilt! So, so cute. :) blessings, marlene

    ReplyDelete
  20. Any trekkie would love this! I am not a trekkie but I love it! Especially the quilting great job!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Cool quilt - love the quilting. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Polly, I love love love it! So adorable! This may be happening for my baby...We already have an Avengers blankie done. I need to come up with an HP one as well!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. An awesome quilt for this blog hop...love it and I'm not even a trekkie. Thanks for sharing! Happy stitching, Pauline

    ReplyDelete
  24. Looks like you know more about Star Trek than I do. Great idea and your quilt is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Your themed quilt is perfect for a bonafide Trekkie. Love your quilting with the Star Ship; it looks like they are headed into the middle of the universe!

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a great Star Trek quilt. It is so special to make quilts around others' interests.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Beam me up! That is adorable! ;). Sew glad you joined us.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Fun, fun, fun! I'm going to have to keep that in mind for my Trekkie friends!

    ReplyDelete
  29. This is great. So glad it was selected to be showcased!

    ReplyDelete
  30. How creative is that! I like the quilting especially the red on the black/white backe.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Very cute, and certainly unique!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Very cute quilt! The quilting if fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  33. SEW AWESOME! I love the star ship Enterprise!!!!! GREAT JOB!

    ReplyDelete
  34. This quilt is just too fun! I know a few people who would love to have that so I think I may have to get busy and get some birthday gifts made. Thanks for sharing your creation with us today.

    ReplyDelete
  35. well done, Polly! Live long and prosper.

    ReplyDelete
  36. That is just so neat! My first thought was "but it's red" (and I only know about the red shirt thing since my boys are hooked on Mythbusters) but it's a Scotty red shirt not a generic red shirt, so that makes it okay, right? I might overthink my baby quilts a bit!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Very nice. Perfect gift for a trekkie dad. I like the pattern and the quilting is very neat too. I like that little enterprise heading off where no man has gone before.

    ReplyDelete
  38. This is a great star trek quilt,thanks for sharing your inspiration with us.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Super quilt, beam me up Scotty! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  40. This is simply stunning "For the Boys". Thanks for hopping. Creative Stitching Bliss...

    ReplyDelete
  41. What a great quilt! Perfect for a Trekkie. Thanks for sharing it and your story.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Great idea! :) I'm sure the baby will love it!

    ReplyDelete
  43. This is awesome! The space ship is the perfect touch.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Wonderful! Any Trekkie daddy would love this for his son!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Fabulous baby quilt! Makes a great grown up quilt too.

    ReplyDelete
  46. wow, this is an amazing & fun quilt! and I agree, the quilting design is the perfect finishing touch

    ReplyDelete
  47. Too Cool! Congrats on a great finish!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Very cool - love your quilting!!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Love the quilting of the Enterprise going into deep space. What a fun quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  50. What a fun quilt! Love the simplicity and nerdiness of it.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Seriously cool quilting! I love your comment that the quilting brought it together, stroke of genius! Thanks for linking up :)

    ReplyDelete
  52. This is a great quilt, and you've given me some good inspiration for a mug rug I'm making (in yellow for Captain Kirk). Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you. I also love responding, so please make sure your Blogger account is set up for me to be able to see your email address or include your email address. I've had to stop accepting anonymous comments due to spam. If you don't have any other way to comment, you can always send an email.