When I saw Lorna's
Elephant Parade's first block, I knew I had to make a baby quilt using it since my God Daughter in Law[who was expecting a baby] is from Thailand, and the elephant is the symbol of the nation. I got busy finding the right fabrics from my stash. Then I had to wait til I knew if it was going to be a girl or boy before I picked something for the little elephant. Then I realized that the block made an African elephant
and the Thai elephant is an Asian elephant. Off to do research - the Asian elephant has smaller ears and the female doesn't have tusks. So I redid the mother elephant block and waited some more. It wasn't til the end of March that we learned there was a good chance it would be a girl. So I remade the baby elephant block. I put the basic top together. Now how was I going to incorporate more about Thailand in this quilt? Here's what I did:
1. There is a lot of vegetation and jungle in Thailand, so I took the 1/2 yard of fabric left from the border, lined the back with fusible interfacing and cut out leaves to extend the motifs into the quilt.
They were ironed on and machine appliqued using invisible thread, a 60/8 needle and Bottom Line thread in the bottom. This took a while. And Baby Saige arrived while I was doing that step. Then I decided to quilt a temple into the sky left of the elephant -there are lots of temples in Thailand. So going back on the NET, found some ruins, made a copy, hung it on a window and traced it onto that golden paper for quilters.
I then pinned it in place on the quilt and started outlining it.
Then I decided to do some letter work and found "welcome" in Thai and did a bit of stencil thread work to write that on the quilt.
I wanted to place the baby's name also, but there just wasn't room. Above is just part of it. It didn't show up very well, but Waen spotted it right away. With all the rain Thailand gets in a year, straight lines in the borders seemed just right. More quilting - quilted the mother elephant and surrounding sky using FMQ and a bit of ruler work on her ear.
Actually the blue foliage around the feet was the hardest. So here is my Elephant baby quilt gifted today to Saige M. Welcome little one. I'm only 3 months late.
What are you up to? I'd love to see your progress - quilty or otherwise. Linky below - ends Monday, midnight.
I'm linking to Amanda's Finish it Friday, Richards Link A Finish Friday, Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?and Lizzie's Free Motion Mavericks. Bye for now.
Angie in SoCal
This one is so lovely. I made those elephants, too. But I ran short of background fabric. Now I've found something I can use, I think. And you inspire me to find my elephants and go on. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWow...more of an art quilt. So much consideration and thoughtfulness. Just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you customized what started off as a simple elephant block into a beautifully crafted art piece. The intentionality behind each part of the quilt is amazing. Well done!
ReplyDeleteOh, this is so great! What a lot of very nice personalization. I love how you quilted in the Thai script. Just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful gift made even more special with all of thought you put into it!!! Sally
ReplyDeleteTHat's stunning. Such a wonderful gift
ReplyDeleteI would really like to know about this "golden paper for quilters". I cannot see it in your photo. How is it removed? It appears that you can see through it. atticw@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteLove your quilting - the elephants are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh, how cute. And the quilting really adds a lot to it.
ReplyDeleteOh. My. GOODNESS! This is incredible!!! I love what you have done to make this pattern your own. The background and vegetation is beautiful. And the quilting is superb! Thanks so much for quilting along!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely artsy quilt. Wonderful gift for the little one. Your quilting is over the top.
ReplyDeleteThat quilt is too cute for words. Fusing the leafs was one of many wonderful little details. The quilting is fabulous. I am sure that the little one is going to enjoy this quilt!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a gorgeous quilt! I just love your elephants and the border. What a lovely gift for this little person.
ReplyDeletethis is a real beauty and so good the way you have quilted it with buildings etc
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and special baby quilt. I loved how you personalized it with the temple and the name. So wonderful!! I have used the Golden Threads paper too.. works great for stuff like this. Congrat - it's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh my god this is so so adorable and so appropriate!!! I loved reading about the entire process of building this quilt, and the FMQ touches from the temple to the welcome to the details in the elephants...ahhh!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. This is the best Elephant parade qult I have seen so far. Congrats with this beautiful finish.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely amazing quilt! I really love when the quilting adds a story to the pieced top! very inspiring, thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteWow, I love it. The free-motion quilting on the elephants is great. Dena from FMQ Mavericks
ReplyDeleteOh that is absolutely beautiful - and I love that it has so many hidden details in the quilting!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing quilt - so personal and lovely.
ReplyDeleteHello Angie,
ReplyDeleteThis quilt is unbelievably sweet, a beautiful present for the baby. I really love the way you have quilted the temple in the background, and used the circles quilting to emphasise the elephants' eyes. I am sure baby (and mum!) will end up getting really attached to this quilt.
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
Love, Muv
Oh my. I absolutely love the leaves appliqued around the border. This quilt is so exquisite. There are so many "extra" things you did, the finished project is so filled with love, it's really evident even from just looking at a picture. I can only imagine how amazing it much look in person!
ReplyDeleteWow! Such a fun baby quilt. You did a beautiful job with all the little extra touches.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is GORGEOUS, and so very unique! Great work, Angie.
ReplyDelete