Sunday Quilt Inspiration: E L E P H A N T S

This post first appeared in February of 2015, and it's still a favorite--over 12,000 views. How is that even possible? Well anyway, I thought I'd make it easy to find, again. 

Try spelling elephants with spaces between the letters....it's strange. This morning I was reading a few blogs, as I tend to do pretty often now that I've cut back on the number of quilt magazines I purchase. I ran across Sew Fresh Quilts and had to take a closer look at her darling "Elephant Parade" quilt.

See that cute little pink guy near the bottom?  That one just gets me.  I like elephants.  But baby elephants, well, they are too adorable.  They look hugable and loveable and cuddly.  I know, it's a crazy fantasy to want to hug a baby elephant that probably weighs as much as I do (and I'm not skinny!) but I can't help myself.

Recently it seems, Facebook is wrought with baby elephant videos. One in which a baby is stuck in a hole and can't get out is just heartbreaking.  Of course, the folks with the video camera help and save the day, but the struggle is real...because the little guy is not so little.  But he's cute and mom is right there in a panic unable to help.  Heart-wrenching, I tell you.  

This video shows a newborn baby being protected and helped by the entire group of elephants as he struggles to get up.  The video is a bit long (9 mins.) but let it stream and advance it so that you get to the end if you just have to see that he makes it.

Since they're so darling, I thought I'd look for a few quilts with elephants on them.  Turns out that there are more than just a few. Plus, there are elephant fabrics, softies, pincushions, and other items.  These are some of my favorites.

And this brings us back to the Sew Fresh Quilts "Elephant Parade" quilt along.  This is the quilt you'd be making if you quilt along with Lorna, but she suggests that you can make other items just by using the pattern to make the elephants, then modify the project to suit your needs.  I'm thinking pillow since I have too many other projects going right now.  

Lorna is already in week two, so maybe you should scoot on over and get started!

Happy Quilting,

Pin It Weekly #224

Baby animals to the rescue, because when you need to get out of your funk what could be more efficient? Or cuter? Baby people, sure, but these are some pretty darling little ones. Enjoy and pin to your heart's desire!

Find these on my "animal, babies" Pinterest board.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Houston IQA {6} Animals

I thought that you might like to see a few more of the quilts from the Houston show. These are all quilts that depict animals in some form. Pets, farm, and wild animals are all present. Enjoy!

As usual, you can find these on my "heart, quilts" Pinterest board. 

Have a wonderful week!

Cotton's Studio Bed

I am on a roll! I've been going into the studio to do a bit of cleaning. By a bit, I mean a little bit 
(I don't like cleaning), then I do a bit of sewing. 


I moved some fabrics to their respective places, cleared out and put away a plastic bag of stuff, and salvaged some old lace. 

Then I happened upon an old pillow of Cotton's that I'd made several years ago. It was badly torn, but I had washed it by pining the opening closed, so the stuffing was clean. 

Did you know that pillow stuffing can be reused? The trick is to wash it in hot water with a little bleach and let it dry well. Then pull the stuffing out and, using very sharp scissors, chop the stuffing into small pieces. 

The fibers tend to clump up and adhere to each other over time, but cutting the pieces apart allows air to fluff it up. It's a good way to save money making pet pillows.  

I dug around in the stash and found some cute animal fabric that I'd used to make scrubs. Apparently I'd cut sleeves out and there was a problem, because the only fabric in the stash had been cut in the perfect shape of sleeves. 

The sleeves seemed like a good match for my needs--I left the shape as it was. I sewed the two sleeves together (RST) around all four sides making sure to leave an opening on the wrist edge so I could turn the pillow and stuff it. 

Cotton likes to rest his sweet little head on something separate from the bed, so I decided to make a pillow on his pillow. First I stuffed the bottom (or large part) of the pillow, and sewed a seam about three inches from the wrist opening. 

Next I stuffed the small section and sewed it closed on the machine. I rolled the small section over on the pillow and hand-stitched the two pieces together. Voila! Perfect little bed for my little boy.

This pillow will be somewhere near the sewing machine so that Cotton can be nearby while I sew. He prefers to be very close to me at all times. As a baby, he sat in my lap while I sewed. How much sewing do you think I got done that way? 

What are you doing this week to get your sewing space in shape?