Tuesday, January 19, 2016

A badger for baby

Hi everyone! Wow, it's bracing out there, isn't it?  It's a beautiful day here--lots of sunshine, temps aren't too bad-- but the wind will knock you over!  I tried to get pictures of today's work, but they were blowing so much that I was afraid I'd end up chasing the blocks all over.  So, indoor pictures, but at least there was a lot of sunshine.

So, anybody out there have any grandchildren?  Our son and daughter in law are expecting their first baby--and our first grandson--in a few weeks.  You know what that means--a special baby quilt just for the new little one! I am making him a quilt from Lorna's Forest Friends pattern.  It's going to be a great quilt for a little boy whose parents love the outdoors.  Here's my first block:


A red fox!  How cute is this little guy?

Lorna has written such a great pattern.  The directions are very clear and there are a lot of illustrations.  The pattern has a lot of pieces, but it's very easy--all straight stitching!



I'm not sure how Lorna will feel about this, but I adapted the other fox block into a different kind of animal:



It's a North American Badger!  Hey, this little boy is a Wisconsinite, so he NEEDS  a badger!  Badgers have those characteristic black and white stripes on their faces, which makes them very striking.  I know this one has no eyes yet, but badgers have black eyes in the black stripes, so I figured that I will stitch in some eyes with dark gray thread when I quilt it up. (Yes, I'm quilting it myself--it's for my grandson!)

This was way more difficult to adapt than you would think.  I cut the pieces out of  paper and tried to find a way to make Lorna's pieces work, but I ended up drawing lines and then paper piecing the sections.  You can see that even that wasn't perfect, because the ears are weird, but I think it came out acceptable enough.  And I have much more respect for pattern developers now, and I thought they were great before.


Anyway, I'll be working on this for a little while, but he's coming in February, so a very little while.  I finally got the fabric ordered for the wedding quilt, too, so I'll be plenty busy.

Hope your fabric doesn't blow away!  I hear we're having a winter storm this week, so maybe I'll get extra sewing time.  We'll see!

Sharing at  Linky Tuesday,  Let's Bee Social and WIP Wednesday.

11 comments:

Jenny said...

Forest Friends blocks are really great - what a good choice for your new little grand-baby!

Lorna McMahon said...

Congratulations on the news that you are expecting your first grandson! Making
a quilt for him is so exciting! Of course I think that is fabulous that you decided to adapt a block to make a badger. And he looks so cute! Well done, Mari!

Alison V. said...

This is going to be adorable! :)

Colleen said...

love your blocks !

andrea @ tideline quilts said...

Congratulations on the pending arrival of your first grand-baby!!!!! The lovely woodland friends will welcome his arrival so beautifully!!!!!

gayle said...

I love the badger! And the idea of the badger, too!

Melissa said...

On Wisconsin! How creative to adapt the fox!

JanineMarie said...

Well, it looks like Lorna is pleased. I was going to say don't tell her you did paper piecing on her pattern. Ha ha. We know how she feels about paper piecing. Have fun getting ready for that grandbaby. He's going to have an awesome quilt!

Kate said...

Very fun blocks! You did a great job coming up with the badger.

Bernie Kringel said...

Great adaptation Mari. I have total admiration for pattern developers. I think it would be a huge challenge. Can't wait to hear about your first grandbaby!!

Unknown said...

Absolutely adorable!