Our hosts for this exciting event are the Pink Elephants, who are proudly sponsored by Pink April for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Let’s meet them first…
Three of them you met last week, but they’ve been joined by four other friends who were, um, shall we say browsing in the bush?!? It is what elephants do. And now they’ll join their other multicolored friends on the design board for a good ol’ elephant trunk show!
Oh my goodness, they are so cute I can’t even stand it! Other than one red elephant I gave to my friend Ruby (who is also making some for a quilt for her sister), these are all the elephants I’ve made since my first two (green) prototypes last fall. Or summer. Whatever. The pattern is Stomping Ground by Wendy Sheppard.
So how many will I be making? I don’t know, but there will be several dozen more over the next six or eight months, I’m sure. They will be arranged and spaced out by colors into kid quilts using fun fabrics to tie the selected colors together. I want lots of options and combos. Here are a few fabric possibilities from my stash.
I’ve pretty much decided against the brown one at the bottom, and my favorite is the gray at the top with magenta, aqua, orange and lime dots. (And wouldn’t that make cute elephants?) But I have plenty time to decide. Plus we’ll actually be having our Utah Shop Hop again this year, so I’ve got an opportunity to pick up some fun mixer prints and (hopefully) some cute elephant backings. So be watching for more “trunk shows” later in the year!
Before I continue with my weekly pink blocks, I want to show you the hardwood floor we uncovered in the master bedroom. The previous owners had carpeted over it in the early nineties. We know it was them because we’re only the second family to live in this home built in 1963. Unfortunately, they repainted the bedroom white at the time and didn’t use drop cloths. Some of the paint splattered on the floor. Luckily, some of it was covered by the new wider and thicker baseboards, but our contractor Jeff and Bruce himself did a lot of scraping. Other than just a little cleaning, oiling and filling some carpet tack holes, there was nothing else necessary.
Yes, the bedroom is small, but it will fit a California King, and we have been shopping for a split adjustable bed.
I have lots more from the remodeling projects (laundry room, linen closet) to share, but I’m going to do those in a separate post mid-week. Next year’s project will include all new six-panel interior doors. There’s always something more to do, isn’t there?
So, back to pink. This week I got in lots of quality sewing time thanks to spring showers and inclement weather.
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| Twelve Bullseye Log Cabin blocks |
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| Thirty 6.5” string blocks |
And two finishes for Quilts for Kids. This first one I’m calling Ukrainian Cats simply because of the yellow and blue. The combination of yellow, blue and black scraps and selvage blocks was inspired by the backing fabric, a gift from my friend Sally.
You may recall that I used this same fabric in a different color way for a backing in one of my January quilts. Thanks, Sally! These backings have been both fun and inspirational.
Ukraine Cats finished at approximately 38x48”
I also got last week’s framed four-patch block flimsy quilted and bound. I would rather do little donation quilts in just pinks than to “taint” a gender-neutral rainbow quilt with them if I can. (Because - macho dads). I do mix in pink on larger RSC quilts now and then, or if I’m keeping it for gifting. Most of the men I know don’t have a problem with it!
This cutie quilt finished at 40x48”
I’ve got two more pink flimsies waiting for quilting, one flimsy being sewn together this weekend, and two more pink “kits” of gathered pink scraps to assemble into something resembling cohesive quilts!
And I think that just about covers it for now. Be sure to visit Scrappy Saturday to see all the creative quilty goodness that’s been sewn up this week.
21 comments:
Your "Eli" trunk show is just wonderful--I love that pattern--I also like that gray with dots print at the top of the pile for another cutie-pie elephant. ;)))
You have really been busy with all those finishes...nice works
I hope your Easter is wonderful hugs, Julierose
I have some of that brown animal print too and I have been mixing it into all of the earth tone quilts I make: brown/gold/blue/green. I have it in a golder tone too.
Your Trunk Show is delightful. 🐘🐘 They look quite large blocks so you won’t need too many in each Child sized quilt. Another Trunk Show of quilts to look forward to in the future! Love the Ukrainian Cats quilt - the backing fabric is great. The framing fabrics you chose for your 4 patches really show them off nicely. Thirty pink String blocks! Wow! What a lovely hardwood floor you discovered hiding under the carpet. It looks fabulous, well worth all the hard work scraping off the white paint spottles.
Holy wow that's a lot! The elephants are adorable, as are all the other blocks and quilts. As for macho dads, I'm not sure one who refuses pink for his son would want a rainbow either...I have a brother-in-law like this...I just roll my eyes at him and walk away. Thankfully guys like that are few. And the floor looks amazing!
Your hardwood floor is so lovely. And I actually think a quilt of pink elephants would be wonderful!! Just love this pattern.
Trunk Show? LOL!! That's a fabulous name for your growing quilt, Cathy. Congrats on those two quilt finishes and finding those stunning hardwood floors beneath the carpeting in your bedroom!!
Love the elephants all there together - so fun! That's amazing that you uncovered that beautiful floor and it didn't need too much refurbishing. Beautiful!
Your Ellies are wonderful!
I'm always amazed that people feel compelled to cover hardwood floors with carpet or paint beautiful woodwork white. Glad you could reclaim the floor. Love the trunk show and all the pink blocks.
Pat
I really enjoyed the Trunk Show. You are outdoing yourself with those elephants. And there are more to come. Hooray! You know how much I love your quilts that use selvages and orphan blocks. You are so good at putting those different pieces together in cohesive quilts.
35 pink string blocks! I struggled to get 4!
Love the trunk show! They sure do look glorious. The floors are lovely - I did that with a house as well and sanded and polished them. So much nicer than the carpet. The pink baby quilt is adorable. Hmmm I wonder if my scraps would fit for those 4 patches... Thanks for the inspiration.
Love, love, love those elephants. And all your pretty pink blocks too.
I too LOVE your elephants! Course I'm partial to elephants and have collected them for nearly 50 years. And your hardwood floor is gorgeous!
oh those elephants are SO cute!! you have some beautiful quilts and blocks here.
Wow! You've been busy! Lots of pretty pinks and finishes! Adorable elephants in all colors! The floor is beautiful, glad you removed the carpet. As a house owner, there's always something to do.
Oh Cathy, you are so brave. You cannot stand the super duper cuteness and yet you soldier on making these darling, adorable elephants. How many? What a silly question. Once you have a couple in love (or lust), they multiply automatically :-D Since Ruby got the red one, will Amber get yellow? Of course the purple is reserved for Violet :-) The cat backing fabric is just Meow!!! Have a great weekend and a Happy Easter!
Your scrap projects are so inspiring! Our previous house (built 1956) had splattered-hardwood-covered-in-carpet, too, and they refinished beautifully. This house (1972) has plywood subfloor, alas.
The Elephants are do darned cute! And I love the look of the Log Cabins and the Strings in pink..
I can't believe anyone would cover up that floor let alone splatter paint on it even if they were putting down carpet. Looks wonderful.
We have to get rid of some hungry termites munching away at this really old farm house before we do any remodeling. Thinking we might tear down and rebuild but not so sure it's a good idea at our age.
Glad you found wood floors that were usable. DO NOT get an adjustable frame from Sleep Number as it only works with their mattress. We were extremely unhappy with out $4,000. purchase and then found out the frame does not work without that mattress. We are now sleeping on a $300.00 mattress from Wayfair and are very happy with it.
The blocks are great. Really like the framed 4patch blocks.
Your floor looks wonderful! I'm so jealous. It is certainly worth the time spent scraping off the paint spatters.
And those elephants are pretty darned cute. You were so inspired to choose that design for the colour challenge of the year. They're not a design you'll get tired of making because there's just so many possibilities.
The elephants are just too cute - I can't wait to see how you mix them up in some kid quilts! Good on you for sticking with the reno projects! We are still going round and round about updating our kitchen. I wish I could just blink my eyes and have it all finished!
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