Busy Hands Quilts: Custom King-Sized Seahawks and Broncos Themed Quilt, 4 Pillow Shams & Valance

Just in time for Christmas, the custom king-sized Seahawks and Broncos quilt set is finished! He likes one team, she likes another, and they meet with this striking quilt!

The batting is Hobbs wool, and this was my first time using it. I like it very much and will likely use wool in all bed quilts I make for my own family in the future. It is loftier than cotton batting from Hobbs, and the quilt is around 3/8" to 1/2" thick. I was nervous to wash it even though I had read several places on quilting forums that it washes well. It fit in my washer and dryer just fine {I didn't know they were that big!}. The manufacturer recommends washing and rinsing in the same temp water to prevent felting (not warm/cold, but cold/cold or warm/warm). It was washed on cool with a cool rinse and dried in the dryer on extra low until barely damp, then laid flat. It shrank from 114" square to 110" square which is comparable to what cotton batting in a quilt this size shrinks when washed. My customer wanted a warm winter / cool summer quilt since she has cold winters and hot summers, so after much research I recommend wool.

The center star has fabric from both teams, and the borders alternate teams. The quilt is huge! It is shown on a queen-sized bed. It started out at 114" square, and I learned that this is the max size that Mrs.Singer's rails can hold.

Although the corner wasn't sewn together as a 4-patch, it looks like one.

Four king-sized pillow shams. This is the first time I have made king-sized shams, and I had no idea they were so big! My favorite pillow sham book, Shams With Style, made it easy by supplying the exact dimensions of piece ... I only had to do a little figuring because of the star. I use this book every time I make a pillow cover. It gives directions for many sizes of pillows for each design, and teaches several methods of pillow closures, such as the traditional envelope and the super sweet tied edge.

The sham fronts are quilted with batting and backing, the back has an envelope opening in navy, and the binding is extra wide, originally cut 3.5", and finishing at about 3/4" wide. I love the accent the wide binding makes and plan to add wider binding to quilts that have a border and don't require a 1/4" wide seam on the edge.

Two Seahawks and two Broncos pillow shams - it had to be fair!

Quilt Stats:

Pattern: Star Surround from Happy Quilting Melissa, a free tutorial, one block enlarged from pattern with borders added.
Size: 110" square after washing
Fabric: Customer supplied, likely poly/cotton
Batting: Hobbs wool
Quilting: Allover medium meandering stitch in navy polyester thread on Mrs.Singer, my antique 31-15 mounted on a 12-foot long quilting frame.
Backing: Solid navy.
Binding: Solid navy, double fold, attached by machine for durability and my sanity {I ain't hand-stitching 440" or 12 yards of binding!}
Value: Keeping the peace between husband and wife!

Quilt Shams Stats:

Pattern: Star Surround from Happy Quilting Melissa, a free tutorial, one 16" block with navy to create the size needed.
Size: King size, approximately 20" x 36"
Fabric: Customer supplied, likely poly/cotton
Batting: Hobbs 100% cotton
Quilting: Allover dense meandering stitch in navy and white thread on Mrs.Bernina, my old 830 which was my grandmother's.
Backing: Solid navy, envelope-style opening
Binding: Solid green and orange, extra-wide, double fold, attached by machine for durability.
Value: Keeping the peace between husband and wife!