Friday, October 03, 2014

Baby Quilt: Great Galloping Grasshoppers!


Just over a year ago, my niece Stacy gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. She had a very difficult time getting pregnant, but she finally succeeded after numerous fertility treatments. I don't think that any child was wanted more than her son Kolsen was nor loved more once he finally arrived.
He turned one recently, and I was happy to be included in the celebration for his first birthday.
I am a bit slow, but I finally made a quilt for Kolsen and gave it to him at his party. I used my Grasshopper Stencil, scanned the stencil, and enlarged the image from 5" to 16" wide ( a little over 300%).
Although Kolsen looks pretty angelic, I think he is really contemplating who to throw cake at next.







My Grasshopper Stencil
 
Here are a few detail shots of the quilt in progress.
The grasshoppers are machine appliqued on, and I am choosing the fabrics for the other shapes.
The shapes are all stitched on and the borders are ready to be added. I could hardly wait to start on the machine quilting.
Detail of Applique
 
TA DAAAA!!!! Finished at last.
I have some pretty fond memories of grasshoppers. We had a summer place in the mountains when I was growing up, and there were always loads of grasshoppers everywhere during the warm summer months.

Also, when I lived in Canada with my husband, the grasshoppers were so thick sometimes that the farmers would use a fine screen in front of their radiators so that that it wouldn't plug up and overheat their engine when they were driving through a swarm of the lovely critters. I used to go out and dig up fresh potatoes for dinner sometimes, and they would dive bomb me as the air was filled with a deafening clicking sound from the whir of the wings around my head. Those are very fond memories indeed!

4 comments:

KAM said...

April - this is great! It is a perfect design for a kiddo and think about how it will be for him when he sees his first grasshopper - he will not be afraid, and will know what he is seeing. I love this quilt!
Kristin

Norma Schlager said...

I love, love , love this quilt. Your grasshopper is adorable and your use of color and the quilting is fabulous.
I'm sure that Kolsen will love it, too. Lucky baby!

ann said...

This is FABULOUS! Thanks so much for sharing. I have a baby quilt to make for a baby of a second cousin. I have few relatives so my connection with my cousin is very important.

A.Sproule said...

Thank so much everyone. I just wanted to make something really fun and happy.