I-Spy Quilt Project: Part 1

I-Spy has always been popular around our house. So, this year I decided to make my girls I-Spy quilts for Christmas. I couldn't find a pattern I liked so I decided to make my own. I wanted to keep the quilts very simple with bigger squares so they would go together fast. I wanted the size of the quilts to be smaller than a twin but larger than a throw. I'll be posting my progress of these quilts as I go with basic instructions as to how I'm doing it.
Here is my basic computer sketch of what the quilts will look like when they are done. (the colors are frightening... but you can get the general idea) Each square is a 3.5" finished size. The quilt has 10 rows of 15 squares for the center I-Spy part. The border around that will have blue and purple simple print fabrics for one quilt and the other will have purple and pink simple print fabrics. Then around that will be a plain border to finish it all off. The gray center border rectangles are undecided at the moment. I'm thinking of using either a solid fabric and then applique' on my girls initials... Or maybe using the backing fabric there... not sure yet. The backing will be flannels and I'm planning on quilting in the ditch.

Finished Quilt Size will be roughly: 56" x 73.5"

Material and Cut Lists
150 - 4" I-Spy Squares - You can find precut I-Spy squares on Etsy and Ebay
26 - 8" Border Squares - for these I used simple prints and batiks
2 - 7 x 10.5" Center Border Squares
Enough fabric to border it if you choose to do so. I'm planning a 3.5" finished border.... So I'll cut 4" strips.
Backing - I bought 4 yards of 45" wide flannel for the backing. And another 1.5 yards in a co-ordinating color to use as binding or contrast on the back. I'm thinking that I will have a yard or so leftover. Again... I'm not a quilter so you may want to do some math to make sure your getting the right amount of fabric.

Yesterday I got started with the sewing of the quilt. I was able to finish both of the quilts center I-Spy sections. Above is one of the centers... I think this one is for my youngest. Most of the squares are the same for each of the girls quilts. But, I tried to find a few that were different and specific to each girl. My mom helped with all the pressing and pinning yesterday... that was a huge help. Today we'll be doing the large block border and hopefully the small solid border too.

*An I-Spy quilt (for those of you who haven't heard of one) is a quilt with fussy cut squares that are all different. Ie: a cat, a dog, popcorn, footballs, books, flowers, bugs, etc. I'm hoping to have hours of fun with my girls searching for items in their quilts. Fun Fun Fun!!!