I spy with my little eye....

Since this quilt has arrived safely at its destination, it is now safe to post pictures.

I Spy quilts are a special kind of kid's quilt. There are a lot of different ways to arrange them, but there is one hard and fast rule: the quilt must contain many novelty fabric patches. Novelty fabrics can be the licensed things like Peanuts or Green Bay Packers prints, but it can also be prints of bugs, dogs, robots, cars...anything you can think of that is representative rather than extremely abstract, and easily identifiable by a child.

You take the novelty fabrics and arrange them in a quilt, and the child can spend hours searching for the different things in the quilt. "Hey, Suzie, can you find a red tugboat?". The adult doesn't even need to know exactly where the tugboat may be - it's up to the child to find it. Most quiltmakers will include a list of searchable objects on the back of the quilt.

Aside from the cuteness factor, I Spy quilts are a unique way to keep a kid quiet and occupied when needed, giving mommy and daddy a break.

At least until little Suzie starts screaming that she found the object.

This I Spy has the novelty fabrics set with a drop shadow around the square that gives the quilt a three dimensional quality. The most challenging part of these quilts is procuring enough novelties - I cheated, went to Etsy and purchased a pack of fifty, 5 inch squares from a wonderful lady who wrapped them in pretty tissue paper, stuffed them in an envelope and mailed them to me the same day I ordered. I didn't even have to leave the house.

The turquoise is a tone on tone; the black "shadow" is a cool swirly pattern, on which the all over quilting pattern is loosely based (well, really loosely - I just kind of got into the zone and doodled all over the quilt).

I really like this one - the colors, the fabrics - it was hard to let go.

I still haven't found a great place to take pictures of quilts.
This at least gives an idea of the whole thing.

I spy...an orange dragon.

I spy...a bear with a fishing pole.

Extreme  close up of the quilting. I'm pretty sure I used the
Bernina Stitch Regulator on this - I did two quilts at about the
same time, using one of the BSR modes on one and the second
mode on the other. Forcing myself to use it for an entire quilt
gave me a good idea of its capabilities - and the length of my
learning curve.

One more picture just because I can.

I am certain I took a picture of the label, but apparently it wasn't filed in the same place as the rest of the pictures. On the back is a list of 92 things to find in the quilt. They 92? I got tired of counting, that's all.

There are thirty-six squares in all in this quilt - I've enough novelty squares left, plus some in my own stash, to make another one...some day.