Something for Jake

Back in November I wrote about a family in our little town who lost their son, Jake, when his friend accidentally shot Jake with an assault rifle. Steve and Mike (Richard's brother and Jake's dad, respectively) have been best friends since they were young men. Steve and his wife, Shannon, were Jake's godfather and godmother, babysat him when his parents worked, and hired him to work in their lawn business. They are taking his death very hard. 

Just a few weeks ago, they celebrated what would have been Jake's 21st birthday. Steve and Shannon wanted to do something symbolic for the occasion and asked me to make a small quilt with his name on it. Jake was an avid hunter, so they wanted a camouflage background with his name in purple. Both his mom and his godmother love purple. 

I knew I couldn't get the quilt finished in time but Steve and Shannon preferred that I make it even if it would be late. I finished turned it over to Steve this afternoon. Gratefully, he seemed very satisfied. 

I supposed I should call it a bed runner since it's too small to be even a lap quilt. It's meant to lay on his bed as a reminder of Steve and Shannon's love for Jake. I can only hope it will serve them well. 

Rather than just stipple or use some edge-to-edge quilting, I decided to follow the tree and limb edges. It was relatively easy, except in keeping track of where I was in the woods. Really, the camo effect is so good that even though I'd step back and look at the design repeat, I got lost a couple of times. I've decided that's the way I added character to the piece. 

Because the purple letters seemed a bit out of place against the grays, greens, browns and black of the camouflage, I decided to add a small piping at the binding. I like this much more than the original idea of using just the camo. 

Link Ups!

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)