Saturday, July 18, 2015

A Finish!


Well, almost a finish. I have to hand stitch the binding on the Zebra Butts quilt but I'm saving that for later this week when we go to our cousin's cabin for fishing. Well, Don and Lily will be fishing, I'll be relaxing in the shade of the cabin porch with my hand stitching to keep me company.


Here's one of the famous zebra butts blocks which I put on the back of the quilt.


In addition to the 2 blocks of zebra butts on the back, there's a third block on the front featuring giraffe butts!  I have no explanation of how all these butts ended up in my quilt!  And, unfortunately, there are no blocks with peacocks and leopards in them. How did that happen, I wonder.



In this section of the back you can see some of the quilting designs I used on this piece.  Some were totally free hand, some were free hand with location markers, and one design was made with a stencil.


I made this quilt for my husband to snuggle under when he's in the cool basement watching TV.  He was complaining last winter that he didn't have anything warm enough, so I decided to get this one finished and he can use it.  The unexpected zebra butts have nothing to do with giving it to Don!  

Speaking of zebra butts, I'm really not satisfied with that name for my quilt. I've been calling it that because of the 2 blocks in the back that are composed of the hind ends of the zebra's in the print.  I think the quilt is a very pretty one, using a stack and whack technique, and it deserves a less "common" name.  So I asked Dr. Google for suggestions of Swahili words for "zebra buttocks" and didn't like the sound of what came up. So I asked for Swahili words for "many buttocks" and  came up with the name of the quilt:  "Ingi Matako."  That's Swahili, according to Google, for "many buttocks."  Which this quilt has in abundance.

At any rate, I'm calling this a finish and am ready to move on to another project. I always feel so good--accomplished, I think is the word--when a quilt is totally finished that I want to celebrate with everyone. So I had a thought the other day that whenever I truly finish a throw-sized quilt or larger--pieced, quilted and bound--I'm going to offer a give-away here on my blog. With the total finish of the Ingi Matako quilt happening very soon, I'm going to give away the following kit to one lucky winner.


It's called Happy Camping and it's a wall hanging or small throw, with a camping theme. Above is the center panel of the piece.


The kit contains the center panel of mountains and camping images, the diagonal check fabric and the camping themed border fabric.  

I'm including enough of the brown with green pine tree fabric for the backing.  Just leave a comment in this post and I'll draw a name on Friday the 24th and get the package in the mail on Saturday. I'm in the mood to celebrate my quilt finish and I'd love it if you joined me!  And in the middle of July, what better way to celebrate than with camping!  Apologies to those in the Southern hemisphere--you'll have to wait until January to embrace the camping celebration! But you can join me in celebrating this week anyway!

Today or tomorrow, I hope to prepare an embroidery project to take with me to the cabin as well.
 

 I have this witchy one for Halloween to do as well as . . .

 this one of the Santas for a Christmas table runner.  I'm looking forward to making both of them but will begin with the Halloween one.

And on Monday, I'm returning to Mall of America in nearby Minneapolis to return all the things I bought last Monday on my wedding dress shopping expedition.  I wrote about that day in this post if you want to read it.  The more I thought about the dress I chose--quite simple except for the beaded cap sleeves--the less I liked it. I've put it on several times and each time I feel more uncomfortable in it. I just don't like the beaded sleeves! If they were made of fabric, I'd be fine because I love everything else about the dress.  So, I've decided that I'm paying way too much for a dress, shoes and clutch to settle for something I'm not happy with.  This time, I'm shopping by myself--no personal shopper again. I think I can do better by myself than with her suggestions which led me into the beading and glitz in the first place!

And today is a day to be spent outdoors.  Not in the veggie garden but in the flower gardens of my yard, and when they are all weeded, in the pool with Don and Lily.  What's in the plan for your day? After you leave your comment for the give-away, of course!

1 comment:

  1. Im heading off to work shortly ...but would much rather be staying home . Naturally I'd spend the day sewing ...but sadly that is not to be.

    Definitely take the dress back if you dont feel like a million bucks in it.

    LOVE your alternative name for the quilt - its fantastic. And congratulations on the almost finish!

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