modern, minimal, masculine...a quilt for jon

The quilt for February is for my son, Jon, who will be graduating from high school in May. This quilt is to go with him to college. At first I wanted the quilt to be a total surprise, but I quickly realized that I couldn't pick the fabric or the style for him, so I let him choose. He looked at all my fabric and chose Erin Michael's Lush. The boy has good taste. He also chose a aqua/blue linen. His instructions: modern, minimal, masculine.

The fabric fits his personality and lots of things about him. He grew up in the country building forts in the woods and watching the deer in the backyard. He's now a total city kid. He's artistic and musical and loves modern design.

So here are the fabrics. There are four different combinations. Jon's words of advice: think simple, stark, minimal, nothing too fussy or complicated. (he doesn't want it to look like a quilt block, if that makes sense.)

Don't feel like you have to use all of the fabrics you were sent. Jon wanted one of the prints showcased in each block. There are a couple of solids with each print. I pushed for a pop of bright color, but he really liked the muted colors. I'm good with you adding fabrics, but try to stay with the feeling Jon described.

The blocks are going to be large, 15.5 inches. If you want to make it larger and let me trim it when it arrives, that's fine too. That linen can fray like crazy.

I looked for inspiration quilts, but I couldn't find one that had the feeling that he described.

I don't have loads of experience working with linen, but a couple of things I learned that might help. I used spray starch on the linen before cutting and even during the piecing. It helps keep it a bit more stable. I also pressed seams open. This reduces bulk and makes a nicer block. Be sure to press, not iron. That linen will stretch out of shape in a minute.

I'm not quite sure of the structure of the rest of the quilt at this point. I may frame the blocks in the brown and blue wood grain fabric or I may make setting blocks that use all the prints in the line to resemble vinyl record albums...large circles with a smaller center circle. I'm still playing with the design. I hope you have enough fabric. The linen is the only fabric that I'm short on...but if you need more I'm sure we can figure it out.

Have fun folks! The packages go in the mail in the morning!