Alice’s Animals

It’s time for the grand unveiling of Alice’s Animals, since Alice herself has been unveiled this weekend. Back in September, John Renaud of Art East Quilting Company announced the Wonderful Woodland Quilt Sew Along. When I saw his moose, I had to join in, even though I am trying my level best to avoid the lure of quilt alongs, and block of the months, and other quilting imperatives. That moose! He had to be made. Here in Newfoundland, the fall moose hunt is a big event. Normally sensible men take off on bonding/drinking/camping weekends ’cause they “gotta get der moose”. You’d swear their families would starve if they didn’t. Now, if they took only a portion of the money they spent on quads and guns and butchers, they’d be eating filet all year. I digress. I got my moose. I didn’t like his straight legs; moose have pretty prominent knees, so I added some.

My daughter’s friend was expecting her first baby this winter, so I found a few scraps from her wedding quilt to make the maple leaves and hooves, thinking this quilt would probably be perfect for a family who owned a summer camp. The next month the bear appeared, and he quickly joined the moose. I had an almost overwhelming desire to put a fish in his lap, but I thought it would be hard for that not to be rude. He looked a bit sheepish already; if you look closely, you’ll see honeycomb on his snout. He’s been up to no good.

A beaver got made but ended up in my Home quilt, so I had to make another, this time in turquoise and green. In unrelated news, I also made some Mochi blocks, designed by Natalie Barnes from a  Beyond the Reef pattern I had had for ages, and put them on the design wall. It was a bit of an “Aha!” moment. They looked fabulous with the beasties who were lounging there. Wonder if bears and moose like Mochi? I decided to chance it.

Now that I knew how the quilt would come together, I picked up the pace. I made a fox and a squirrel, designed by Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts. More wedding quilt fabric was used in their construction.When I had a good look at it, I realized I didn’t want to include the fox after all. I preferred the symmetry of four beasts. The gaps were filled with Mochi blocks, some whole, some not, and the top was quilted. I added a little bit of love in the moose and bear hearts.

With a scrappy binding finished,  Alice’s Animals was ready for a photo shoot. Those snow banks aren’t as smooth as they could be, but never fear. That’ll change. It’s snowing right now! What a great day for quilting!

Linking up with Beth of Love, Laugh, Quilt’s Monday Making and Beth of Cooking up Quilts in Main Crush Monday.