I hope everyone has had a peaceful and wonderful holiday. My favorite gift arrived on Christmas Eve when Cori came home for a week! I couldn't have asked for anything better.
Most of you know we do things a little different here, we've had another successful Christmas and things are calming down. Since South Florida has decided not to participate in winter this year Cori and I have been starting each day with a bike ride, just riding and talking with the occasional stop for her to grab coconuts to take back to all of her dog friends (again with the coconuts for dogs).
I'm so happy that I can finally show the quilt I made for her, I feel like it needs one of those labels that say "this took forever". I was so excited about it I turned me into a five year old who wanted everyone up at 5 A.M. so we could open presents.
Cori has always loved dinosaurs, all through her years of education when she would feel stressed I would get a call or text that said "I should have been a paleontologist", when she received her doctorate I gave her a small silver triceratops for the "road not taken" and when a T-Rex head popped on in my pinterest for ideas she immediately messaged "for me please".
I took the picture and cropped and recropped him down to 42 pieces of computer paper which I put together like a puzzle, then used the sliding glass door (which he was too big for) for a light box to make the individual pieces.
I used Lara's idea from her book Crafted Applique, New Possibilities to treat the pieces so I knew it would last and not fray.
Then I spent days quilting him, he's mostly pebbled which just about made me lose my mind, make a circle, make another circle, make hundreds of circles, LOL. It turned out awesome and the pebbling was perfect for skin texture. I finished with swirls in the outer blue section. He finished at 50" X 70".
Cori loves him, I love him and I'm so glad I followed though with this labor of love. It always feels so good to be able to give the perfect gift, I'm still smiling about it.
Later Gators,
Dana
This is just AWESOME!!! You are so clever - yes, pepples remind me of Dory "just keep swimming, just keep swimming". But, what great texture!
ReplyDeleteAwesome is an understatement! Super job Mom, and a perfect gift, I know a couple grandsons who would love this. It truly is a wonderful labor of love.
ReplyDeleteWow! This quilt is gorgeous. It's a piece of art, but also a very special gift for your friend. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteDo we say it again...so awesome to figure this one out, and make it with love. I know she loves it and appreciates all the work it took for Mom to accomplish it. Can't believe you did all those circles!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I love your dinosaur design. Ferocious. Super cute. And, sounds like you did receive the best Christmas gift ever. So happy to hear Cori was able to come home for Christmas. Enjoy your week together and may you have plenty of bike rides and much happiness together this week (and many more such times together in the future.
ReplyDeleteQuiltShopGal
www.quiltshopgal.com
What a great dino!!! Glad you got time with Cori. I'm traveling (solo) to Texas next week, where my youngest and his wife, will be headed. Hubby's and my parents are there, along with other family and my BFF of almost 40 years.
ReplyDeleteIt's fabulous, Dana, and what a great story. Very impressive. I can imagine how perfect the quilting is. Pebbling is tedious and it takes a long time, but it can be so effective for so many things. Take it from someone who just pebbled 12 blocks of snow and swirls for Gingerbread Square...I can sympathize.
ReplyDeleteWow! You put a lot of thought and hard work into this quilt. How rewarding to know it was the PERFECT gift!
ReplyDeleteSo Awesome Dana! The T-rex looks like it's poking its head through the mist to inspect a possible dinner, LOL. I'm so impressed! Cori is one lucky girl that you could interpret the picture and make it into a quilt. The pebbling looks just how we would imagine dinosaur skin to look and must give amazing texture to touch. That is so cool that you used the Crafted Applique method again! Thanks for the shout out. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a wonderful Christmas with Cori home. It sounds like heaven.
Dana, this is so cool! I'm glad I scrolled back and got to see him and his story.
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