Zoo Line Up and Holiday Card

When I saw the latest theme for a WOCS quilt, "wild animals", I figured I would pass on that.  I'm not crazy about stitching animals.  But then I discovered the Line Up series from the Trilogy and the Zoo Line Up design kind of stole my heart.  I pictured a gorilla at the Zoo police station, picking out the critter that attacked him!   This was really fun to stitch.  I used DMC of course instead of the hand-dyeds.  Hand-dyed floss is just not a good thing for a quilt that will be washed many times anyway.  I adjusted colors as needed to give good contrast on the 32-ct Jobelan lambswool fabric.    The group is doing quilts for adults with realistic animals and quilts for kids with cartoon/silly whatever animals.  You be the judge for the placement of this one.

In between other projects and for the sake of using up some of the old hand-dyed Aida, I stitched up the "Partridge 2011" design by Jannie Hubble from the 2011 JCS ornament issue.  Turned it into a quick card by cutting a funky opening and adding a few stickers.  I love the hat on the birdie!  This will sit quietly til the season for sending comes around.

Bluebird Alphabet Baby Sampler

And another baby sampler is completed.  This baby is the first grandchild of my first cousin.  I guess that makes the baby my first cousin, twice removed!  The grandfather is very close to my age, and I think this baby fills both of us with joy, but also makes us both feel our age!  The grandfather has refused to be called 'Granpa' or anything like that.  He's going with Pop-Pop.  Whatever feels good. 

The design is Just Nan's Bluebird Alphabet stitched on 32-ct Vikki linen.  I love the overlapping letters and contrasting colors.  The little birds in the corners and that adorable nest in the Y (looks kind of like a champagne cocktail, yes?)  just make this piece for me.  I edited out the baby's last name for privacy.   I had planned to just finish with blue cording around the edge, but I was afraid I would mess up the corners, so I went with a more tried and true finish.  The backing is the same as the borders.  I interfaced the backing and added a layer of batting between the layers, but no board for stiffening, so this is more quilt-like.

I whipped up a quick design for a card to accompany the gift as well.  This is a freebie by Ulrike M. that you can find here.  I think it translates to "Bunny in the Grass", but don't hold me to that.  If you know a better translation, let me know and I'll edit this post.  I took the photo before I added a little heart sticker at the top so that's why it seems a little off.