Sunday, April 17, 2011

elephant day

I've been eyeing that stack of fabrics for what seems like ever and finally made time to work on the elephants!

This morning I got up and worked on cutting, not knowing how far along I'd get, but planning today to be elephant day.  I had about 25% cut, but with 17 pieces per elephant, I had a lot of pieces still to go.


I sewed and sewed.  At first, the seams were short and it seemed like I was making quick progress.  But as the pieces became larger pieces, the seams became longer and progress seemed to slow.  Yet once I could start seeing the elephant take shape, my enthusiasm was renewed.

And now, though my attention span today is about 20 minutes, I have 20 elephants to show!  The whole baby quilt worth of them.


The pattern can be found here, at the Milk and Honey Quilts blog.  It's very well written and easy to follow.  Lots of diagrams - no whole paragraphs on how to sew a triangle either.

I'm so excited.  I have the blocks all done in just one day!  And that green print is my favorite.  I want to wallpaper my bedroom and paint my car to match!  (But I won't.)


So here they all are.  (Again, you can't get a photo without a cat at my house...)  And yes, I do realize that 8 of them are going the other direction.  With 17 pieces per elephant, that takes more than an accident to make happen.

Eventually, they'll be in rows alternating direction, colors mixed up and I'm still debating sashing and border options.

While I had the camera out, I thought I'd share a photo update on the April UFO project. 


I need four of these squares and 4 triangles that are a bit more than a quarter of the design before the end of the month.  I got a lot done yesterday while my mom was over using my longarm, but usually I don't have that much time to sit and work on it.  Slow and steady - I'll get it done eventually!

And in the mail yesterday, I got this...


Remember I sent a few star blocks in for the Just One Star project Moda was hosting?  Well, I never expected even a thank you, but a stack of 2.5" squares of a fantastic Christmas print, too?  How awesome is that?  The funny part is that the envelope came addressed to my husband and I...you see, I just stuck the blocks in an envelope and sent it off.  No note or anything, but I'd put a return address label on the envelope, so that's how they knew where to find me.  So the hubby comes into the house with the mail and snatches the envelope up (because his name is on there, too!) and opens it to find fabric.  Boy was he disappointed!  It makes me giggle, but I do feel bad for him - he thought he was going to find something fantastic and get to it before I did!

Time to go make some dinner.  I hope you've all had a productive weekend (quilty or otherwise).  We're waiting for the return of spring, so it was a good weekend to quilt for me.

Happy quilting,
Katie

11 comments:

Ruthie said...

Those elephants are cute-as-can-be!

Sandy said...

I can't believe you finished all 20 elephants. That is going to be a really cute quilt. Your applique project is looking good, too.
We received 21 centimeters of snow on Thursday, and lots more on Friday, Saturday and again today. There will be no outdoor Easter egg hunts this year!

Sandy

---"Love" said...

What a cute elephant pattern! Had not seen that one before! Your applique work is looking really pretty! Can't wait to see those corner blocks on that gorgeous quilt! ---"Love"

a good yarn said...

Well I think your elephants are adorable not matter which way they are heading. Your April UFO is gorgeous! How nice to receive a small gift in thanks. Ann :-)

Barb said...

I love love love your elephants.....just soooo adorable.

Liriopia said...

Love the elephants and your applique blocks are coming along nicely! Slow and steady, that's how I work, LOL.

Liri

Unknown said...

Those elephants are darling;) And the applique looks wonderful;) Too funny that they sent that to your hubby:)
Happy Quilting!!

Connie204 said...

Love the elephants. I love seeing pics of your kitties on your quilts. I wish I had the patience to do applique. It's beautiful.

canuckquilter said...

The elephants are just adorable. Thanks for sharing the source - it's in my idea file now! You applique blocks are absolutely gorgeous. How are you stitching them? Is it a tiny satin stitch?

Beth said...

Those elephants are just so cute. I can't wait to see how you put them together.
Your applique looks so perfect! I love the how crisp and classic the red and green look together and just the little blue just adds a bit of a pop. Not sure if that made sense, but you know what I mean...I hope. Love it! That's what I mean. Seems like you are making good progress on the applique.
Yeah on the surprise package from Moda....I bet the hubby was more surprised. LOL

Brita said...

I've never seen anything like those adorable elephants! Too dern cute :-)