Elephant Walk

Elephants have always fascinated me.  I have no idea why. 

The first elephant I remember seeing was a brass elephant figurine that my parents had.  Where it came from is any one's guess.  I don't remember seeing it when we cleaned things out of the house after Dad died.  Of course, it could have been in one of the many boxes that were eventually auctioned or it may have disappeared years before that.

A few years ago I started making what I call "anarchy quilts" because no rulers are allowed except for the final squaring up.  They are fun to make and quite freeing.  One of the first ones I made is this one.

Gary really liked it and so it became his anniversary gift that year.  It has hung in his office at home every since.  Note the unevenness of the 9 patches along the bottom.  I did discover that I could cut quite strait with the scissors so things aren't as "wonky" as I thought they might be.

Points may be cut off, but they look okay in this type of quilts because it is obviously intentional rather than a lack of skill and accuracy.

Here is a closeup of one of the elephants on the quilt.  Note the elephant and leaf buttons used as embellishments..



The grass is simply raffia stitched by hand onto the quilt .  The quilt is not intended to be washed so that was not a concern in adding the "grass".

You would be amazed at the kinds of buttons and beads you can find in elephant and jungle leaf shapes!  It was such fun finding these pieces to add to the quilt.

With the elephant quilt in place, I found this print to add to the room's decor.

If you look closely you can see my reflection in the glass as I took the photo.  Hope this is the only way I ever get "charged" by an elephant!

My nephew, David, gave us this elephant after a trip to Africa.  It almost blends in with the granite counter top, but there was better light in the kitchen than in the office where the elephant "lives" on the ledge of a small, high window.

He doesn't "live" there alone.

This elephant lives there, too.  He is on top of the world.  Pardon my fingers holding this one against a plain wall.  This one blended in way too much with the counter top.

This must be why they say elephants never forget.  It has it's own perpetual calendar and a pen to make all those lists of things he can't really remember.  Someone gave this elephant and the one previous to Gary, but I don't recall the occasion.

I have another batik fabric with a large elephant as well as some other small batik animal squares that I've gathered.  I think there is another elephant quilt in the future.

Hope you enjoyed walking with the elephants in a safe environment.  Other than the zoo, this is the closest I've ever come to elephants.  They are just fascinating animals.

Do you have a favorite animal?  Is it an exotic animal? 

I tried to talk Gary into buying llamas and a farm to raise them on once, but he vetoed that idea along with the bed and breakfast I wanted to buy in Missouri.  Guess those both sounded like more fun to me than to him.  Wonder if he'd go for raising lavender.  Hmm, probably not.

Next week I'll be in Columbus, Ohio for a few days.  I heard there is a zoo there, but I probably won't get to it since I'll be in meetings most of the time.  I'll try to write from there.

Until next time,

Lois