Several year ago I told the quilt guild I belonged to that we must remember that not all babies are blue eyed and blond haired. I showed some camaflague, outdoor, animal prints I was using.......even some ethnic prints and South West and cowboy prints. I love to make some of the old type red/black bandana print fabric I have. Love the Thomas Train fabric I have.....So.....................right on with your post. We are a diverse population. Lets have our quilts and other items reflect this.

And let us also think about the fact that our military personnal may not want red white and blue quilts. I read this somewhere.

This is so true! I work with a group that supports a NICU in our area. All the babies get hats, booties, and fleece sleepers. So many of the items made with donated fabrics turn out pink! The group buys lots of boyish products to counterbalance it.

As the mother of 3 boys and 1 girl, I just kind of automatically gravitate toward the boy-ish items. My daughter (the youngest of the brood) always was a bit of a tomboy (how could she be otherwise with 3 older brothers) so we didn't have a lot of frilly pinks in the house even then. I think greens, oranges, blues, and golds work well for boys/young men. I look for animal prints and geometric prints since flowery prints, even with no pink in them, still look too "girly". When I donated to Quilts for Kids, I always do a "boy" quilt. The last one I got a bit carried away with the size, but they said it was great because it would work for teen boys, something they never had enough of.

Pam

I agree that we all make more girlie than boy things....I am having trouble coming up with quick manly quilts. I spoke with our local St Jude group and they are really low on quilts...especially for teens....seems they are the last to get a quilt...I realize it takes longer and more materials and money to make them but they really do need them. Also it is hard for us to make something for teen boys...It is either childish or hunting.....not all are into hunting. Anyone have good ideas for quick quilts for teens, especially boys. While here I am putting out a request for all of us to check our stashes of quilts made and see if we can't give some of them to worthwhile charities or people who really need a warm loving "blanket" quilt. Make it your number one new year objective of 2012.

We made the 6(?) hour quilt in our guild. I think that is what it's called and we made sure to make specifically for boys. They are so easy to make. Strips, batting and quilting all done in one sewing. Quick and easy and cute. Good for any size.

I made a log cabin out of plain scraps, hoping it would be suitable for a boy. It had no pink, no purple and no posies. Arranged it in a vertical zigzag pattern. Looked very masculine to me, and very easy. Also nice way to use up plain scraps.

When I dropped off some quilts and afghans at the Binky Patrol I asked the coordinator if there was a particular need that I might fill. She didn't hesitate an instant before answering "teen-age boys!" They are definately the forgotten ones. Since then that has been my focus. It takes more time and materials but well worth it.

I make pillowcases for Conker Cancer Org. And that is something I've really tried to be aware of. It's really hard finding a variety of fabrics suitable for boys and male teenagers.

i have 2 sons and no daughters and my guild's donations are so predominantly floral and pink that I always make it a point to make twin size boy quilts... i usually do the sting quilt blocks on a 13 inch base, then i strip pc on the diagonal... when i have 12 of these, i place them face down on solid fabric and make 'magic squares' ... which gives me 24 blocks that finish at 12".... quilt is 48 x 72 before i put a border on... the solid color ties it all together, the size is big enough for a twin bed... somebody has to make quilts for the 'big boys'...

When I did pillowcases 2 years ago and turtle pillows last year for our guild's community service project, we were asked to do at least half, and more if we could, in boy fabric. I actually found a lot of fabric for boys that wasn't particularly juvenile. I found a lot of masculine colors and patterns that weren't prints, just designs, that worked really well. And some oddball stuff that guys would like.