Minecraft Creeper Quilt

Minecraft Creeper Lap Quilt

I made this quilt for my husband after seeing similar ones on Etsy.  He really likes to play the computer game Minecraft (and that's a BIG understatement).  The reason I pick to share with you this quilt is that this past week, my husband has somehow managed to get ME to become hooked on the game.  I don't know whether its the exploration aspect or just the fact its something fun we can do together, I'm really enjoying it.  It is however, really cutting into my quilting time :)

Anyways, last year I (with the help of my mother while I was home for Easter) combined our vast assortments of greens for the "creeper" look.  I figured out what the squares for the face needed to be and then came up with how many green squares I needed to fill in.  I found a neat grayish tree/forest pattern for the border, and then used black for the backing and binding.  

The thing I remember the most about making this quilt was cutting it.  I had to go to Philadelphia for a work conference and ended up bringing with the makings of the quilt, including rotary cutter and mat.  One of the nights I had to myself, I went back to my hotel room after dinner, put on my pajamas, turned on the TV and started cutting away.  I chuckled to myself what housekeeping must have thought when they saw my garbage the next day.  Since I had barely made the weight requirement on my luggage on the way there (fabric is heavy!), I was generous in what I threw away.  Luckily, on the way back, I was a bit lighter in the luggage department.

Once I got the cut fabric home, I took a weekend day and sewed the top together.  I surprised my husband (who mind you was playing the game when I presented him with the quilt top) and he loved it.  I then had it quilted at my local quilt store (which I got some interesting comments when picking it up, as in "I don't get it.") to finish it off using black batting (then it doesn't peek through the stitching).  I did the binding in a few hours the next weekend.

There are two things I regret about this quilt. One is the size.  It ended up being 60"x60".  My husband is 6'3" so it barely qualifies as a lap quilt for him.  He still enjoys it though.  It moves between the recliner in our loft and a blanket for sitting at his desk.  The second thing is the black backing.  We have a dog that sheds big time.  The back of the blanket (and front where its black) is COVERED in dog hair.  It really shows.  I know for us we are used to it, but whenever I look at it, I wish it hid the hair better.  That way when people do see it for the first time, they don't see the dog hair first.