First and foremost, this is just my opinion on the matter of “manly” quilts. I have two sons and zero daughters, yet I gravitate mostly towards PINK pink pink pink pink with a little aqua thrown in for good measure. I challenged myself this year to make at least one quilt that I would consider manly enough to proudly place on either of my son’s beds. Yes, there is nothing wrong with pink quilts on beds. Nothing at all. However, I just can’t seem to step away from more feminine colors and patterns.

I have had Samantha’s (Aqua Paisley) Cherry Tree Lane quilt on my list since last December when she hosted her quiltalong. Life was just way too crazy with my own holiday sewing and binding for others that I couldn’t participate. I looked in my stash and realized I only had 1 jelly roll and it was the cool colorway of Blueberry Park. I took it as my sign that this was to be my attempt at a “manly” quilt.

I wouldn’t necessarily consider a trellis style quilt to be very “manly”, but I decided I was up for the challenge. I’ve included Samantha’s cover image from her pattern as a reference. Isn’t it such a stunningly beautiful quilt?!?! Here is what I did to make it feel more “manly”:

1- I used a light gray background to help darken the sashing bits. I do love white and the crisp, clean look it gives, but for a masculine quilt it is a great opportunity to use something other than white.

2- I ended up doing away with the horizontal sashing once I laid it out. I just LOVED the look that was achieved when I took the extra sashing away.

3- Had I sashed the quilt further, I was planning on continuing the same navy blue setting stones I had used in the middle of each block and decreasing the size of the sashing to be similar to the smaller sashing. Getting rid of the scrappy element helps to make it feel more masculine. (Check out Samantha’s “Bert” version of this quilt on Instagram. Having never seen this version, I realized after I planned my changes that she and I were on the same wavelength!)

4- I wasn’t afraid of flowery fabric!! There are still flowers and other more feminine motifs in the Blueberry Park range, however, one can achieve a masculine feel even with flowers!! Don’t shy away from something just because it has flowers in it.

5- I plan on quilting it in a more masculine motif as well. You’d be surprised how much this can change the look of a quilt. The motif I have chosen was recommended by Kaylene Parry (@quilterlove66) and has circles and lines that reminded me of something my older boy would choose, if I left such decisions up to him. Once it’s quilted and bound, I’ll come back and update this post with more photos.

While I do have a buffalo plaid quilt that I made late last year and we LOVE it, I am so thrilled that I challenged myself to make a “manly” quilt that maybe isn’t so obviously manly. What do you think? Did I achieve a “manly” look and feel? What are your favorite things to do to make quilts feel more masculine?