Monday, March 25, 2019

It's a Finish! Izzy's Menagerie

 Izzy's Menagerie
60 x 72

It's a finish! 



There's very few quilts I've made more than once but I never get tired of making Happy Block quilts. 
These blocks have 4 inch centers and 1 3/4 inch sides which makes a 6 inch finished block. 

 Some of the blocks were swapped as well as the centers with the I Spy Quilt Swap Yahoo Group I joined 14 years ago when the first grandchild was born  Some of the centers came from a few other swaps elsewhere and a few centers were won.   All of the centers are members of the animal kingdom - birds, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, mammals and reptiles.  
I've made several quilts to give to the grandkids when they graduate high school. 
 I made this one for Isabelle (aka Izzy or Dizzy Izzy)  because she loves all creatures great and small and for as long as I can remember she has always said she wanted to be a veterinarian.   I guess that has changed.    She recently was accepted into an Accelerated Associate Degree program  which means when she graduates high school she will not only receive a high school diploma but she will also receive an Associate of Arts degree.  When I congratulated her and mentioned that it was a wonderful opportunity for a future veterinarian I was informed that she now wants to be a psychotherapist.   Ok.  But she still loves all creatures great and small. 
 I free motion quilted it on my Brother DSM with some rough lemon peels in variegated rainbow thread on top and gray in the bobbin.  I haven't washed it yet so it's not all soft and crinkly. I have an old wringer/washer and no place for larger quilts to dry flat so I wait until I have several and take them to the laundromat for washing and drying.  When it crinkles it will hide most of my quilting imperfections. (I hope). 
 And it's a Murphy's Law of Quilting that whenever your hand shakes while quilting it will happen with dark thread on a light background or vice versa.  Oh for the love of crinkles! 
 Happy Block quilts usually make a big dent in my solids, tone on tones,polka dots and blenders. 
 The backing was pieced...
...with several different gray odds and ends. 

for



12 comments:

Lynette said...

This is a fun I Spy quilt, though I like your name of Happy Blocks quilt a lot better. :) It's sure to cheer your granddaughter.

mangozz said...

This is a great I Spy quilt. I bet kids would have a lot of fun with it, and I can imagine that it would be fun making one too.

Cathy said...

That is so cute! And you’ve got me hooked on Happy Blocks too!

Louise said...

Happy blocks, indeed! Who wouldn't want to receive a quilt so full of jolly little critters and bright colors? You're so right about the dark/light thread/fabric contrast when the quilting bobbles a bit. I was doing a decent "hook/swirl" motif but with the inevitable "swook/hirl" moments. Always in the highest contrast areas, sigh.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Another delightful scrappy finish -- I think we all have those "quilting moments" when the phone rings and we jump and so do our stitch lines. Sigh. Kudos to Izzy for her accomplishments.

Quilter Kathy said...

What a wonderful quilt for your vet/therapist granddaughter!
Love the scrappy binding!
Your comment about Murphy's Law of Quilting made me laugh right out loud... soo true!

Quilting Babcia said...

I didn't know them as happy blocks until reading your blog, but I love to make these too. Though not nearly as many as you've made. Time for another - soon, I hope. Izzy will love her quilt!

MissPat said...

I've got half the happy blocks done for the baby quilt I'm making and should finish the other half tomorrow. Yes, the quilting bloops always happen where they show the most, but I'm not making show quilts and the babies don't care.
Pat

Emily said...

I love this one so much!!! What a great gift for an animal-lover. I work at a community college and we have a similar program--it's a great way to jump-start future studies!

---"Love" said...

Really cute! I can just hear kids laughing as they point to each block! What a fun quilt it is! ---"Love"

Lynn said...

That looks so good, hours of fun for a child to enjoy. Great work.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

Indeed a wonderfully happy quilt. I love your quilting motif, and ditto, crinkles hide many crooked stitches.