Becca's Robot Quilt

This quilt started with a piece of fabric I found at Hobby Lobby in Lawrence back in January or so.  I was very excited about it, because I could immediately envision a quilt custom-made for my daughter-in-law, who creates robots from "recycled" objects -- canisters, teapots, Tupperware containers, etc.  Since it had some orange in the design (her current favorite color), I also picked up some solid orange fabric to go with it.

As time marched on, and I got acquainted with fabric.com and its MANY choices, I added pieces that I thought would work:  various hand tools in white/gray on a black background, circles that remind me of gears in black on a white background, a darker orange with swirls and the lighter orange dot, etc.  The quilt began to take shape in my mind, and I even began to sketch out what it might look like, trying to figure out measurements, etc.  I even found some wide orange fabric to use for the backing!

Finally, in early July, I began to get serious about making this quilt.  I had decided to cut apart the robot design and frame each piece in a white-on-black windowpane print.  When I did that, I discovered that the dimensions would make the quilt wider than it would be long, so I added some length to that center section before sewing the orange swirl border on, using the black-on-white gear print.  (This is a nod to Becca's steampunk jewelry, which she also makes and sells.)
The next section consisted of two rows of two-inch squares in a series of four fabrics, including the plain orange, in an alternating pattern, all the way around the quilt.  I made this by sewing strip sets of 2 1/2 inches, using four different fabrics, and then cutting them into 2 1/2 inch sections and sewing them together.

While I was in McPherson for the Sisters' Quilting Retreat, I was very excited when I found a companion fabric to the original robot piece I started with:  the same robot figures scattered on a black background!  This became the next row of border, followed by the tools on black, cut lengthwise from the fabric so the tools would NOT be cut up.  (Thanks, Linda, for that suggestion.)  I was afraid I wouldn't have enough length to go all the way around the quilt, so I decided to break up the length with squares of the gear fabric on each corner and in the middle of each side.

Now, as soon as I receive additional "scattered robots" from McPherson's WalMart, I will add one more border, and the quilt will be ready for quilting!  It is larger than I first imagined it would be, but I'm very happy with it.  I'm confident Becca will like it, and it's big enough for her to share with Tony and/or any of their sons she wants to snuggle with!  This has truly been a "design-as-you-go" quilt, and I'm quite pleased with the result.
NOTE:  The pictures aren't placed exactly the way I wanted them to be, but hopefully you can figure out what they are!