The non-lame (?) football quilt

I'm not a fan of sewing with novelty prints but this Christmas I was really stumped for gift ideas for my oldest son.  Getting gifts for your kids gets harder and harder as they get older.   The fun shopping trips down the toy aisles turn into confusing and expensive trips down the electronic aisles and the hunting aisles and the car part aisles and sports aisles, etc.  I want to give the boys gifts they'll use and appreciate, but also ones I can afford, and that's where it gets tricky. 

 ::  56" x 73" ::  hand quilted in grid pattern with perle cotton #8 :: 

Then I had an epiphany!  When the boys were little I made each of them a quilt (story here) and Russell's was made with Buffalo Bills fabric.   During the teenage years it got left somewhere and lost and he has missed it ever since. For a surprise I thought I'd recreate it with an updated twist.  My first idea was to make it a little more funky but the helmet fabric and the colors really didn't spark any creative juices.  I finally told myself that he'd appreciate the original patchwork look the best and I think that was true, not just a cop-out.  I pieced a back and added some embroidered embellishments to make it more personal. 

Unfortunately time got away from me this December (doesn't it always) and on the big day he open a box with a fully pin basted quilt and a roll of binding.  Hand quilting commenced almost immediately. Let me tell you something ... that novelty sports fabric is almost as thick as canvas and the perle cotton was a heavier gauge than my usual so my fingers were S.O.R.E. when I was finally finished.  I've never been so glad to be done with a project in my life.  It was worth it in the end because he loves it and I know it reminds him of his favorite quilt and all the memories that went with it.