Dumbo – Our March OMG Finished

Finishing a Dumbo baby quilt is our March OMG project, and I’m happy to report that we have been successful.  Patty at Elm Street Quilts hosts a linky party for all to join in.  Thank you to Patty and all the sponsors!

Dumbo-1

Dumbo For March

A coworker asked us if we would make a baby quilt for her niece who is expecting (a girl is the recent word on the street) in July.  The expecting mom didn’t have a theme other than animals, but the dad-to-be loved Dumbo as a child.  We thought it would be fun to introduce the newborn to the wonders of Dumbo.  The cute panel I found and pictured above has an amazing message to share as well.  Who would not wish amazing things to happen for their new baby?!  To surround the panel, we found two star-studded fabrics.

The yellow is a soft flannel and is the inside border. Some of the pale yellow stars exactly match the stars near Dumbo.  The second border and binding is comprised of the gray stars.

Dumbo Outline

Outlining Dumbo and all of his features was the first order of business.  Mid-March I finally got around to starting to quilt with Sue’s help.  She layered the quilt top for me on a Friday afternoon, so quilting commenced on Saturday.  Dumbo’s sweet smile encouraged me on.  I know many of you can ‘hear’ the quilt speak to you, and Dumbo certainly was.

Dumbo outline

Once he was all outlined, it looked SO cool on the back with a mirror image.  Here is what the back looks like before binding – can you see Dumbo’s image?

Dumbo Backing

You can really read the twinkle, twinkle and I love you to the moon and back sayings on the backing fabric.

FMQ for Dumbo

Sue voiced a fairly strong opinion (for Sue) about how Dumbo should be quilted.  She envisioned a smallish stipple to give the impression of his wrinkly skin.  I acquiesced without comment; if she has that strong of an opinion, who am I to ignore it!   Here’s a shot of him with just his body quilted, and I have to agree that it does give the suggestion of wrinkles.

For his inner ear flaps, I wanted to imply that they are nice and downy soft.  I’ll be dipped if I could think of a ‘soft’ stitch, so I opted for small loops in a meander pattern.  On his collar it was easy for me to give the impression that is was pleated with a wavy stitch in each of the three sections.  Lastly, his hat got some back and forth straight-ish lines that matched the shape.

Stars and Hearts

The background cried out for more stars, I thought from the beginning.  I couldn’t just add star after star – that would be pretty darn boring.  So I threw in some hearts, thinking of that sweet baby that would be wrapped in it soon.  I think I lost my way on a couple of stars, and then ended up being an odd shaped rectangle with an X through it.  I forgot how to make a star, I guess – especially when it’s upside down from me. To move between stars and hearts I added a few little loops.  I tried to keep everything in a small scale.

Dumbo stars

Lastly, I had to do a little something in the two borders.  I used the same loopy stitch from the collar in the yellow skinny border.  In the final gray one, I alternated ‘e’ and ‘l’ in script all around.

Dumbo Complete

Dumbo was about to fly away for his photo shoot, it was so windy. 

He will be going to await his new master’s birth in a sweet baby girl.  She’ll feel all the love we stitched into every inch of this quilt.  This is the baby’s great-aunt Jeanne, my coworker. ~smile~

 

We’re sharing on Dione’s Clever Chameleon website today. Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link above or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!

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29 Responses

  1. ANGELA ROGILLIO says:

    Love this quilt! I just beginning FMQ and actually already have this panel pinned and ready to go, but I cannot tell from this web page what colors of thread you used or is it all one color? A quick response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

  2. You found the perfect coordinating fabrics, and it does not get any sweeter than Dumbo. Lovely quilting too. This is really going to brighten up the nursery.

    -Soma

  3. dezertsuz says:

    I’m so impressed with how your quilting keeps rapidly improving! You have made so many gains in only a few months. This little Dumbo came out perfectly marvelous.

  4. This is totally cute, the Chameleon loved it, and I must say, your FMQ skills are coming along a treat!

  5. Such a cute finish! I love the design and quilting.

  6. It’s too cute for words. I’m going to look for that panel. Your quilting is totally gorgeous. Congrats on this wonderful finish.

  7. Brenda @ Songbird Designs says:

    Very fun and great job, Roseanne! Love me some Dumbo!!

  8. Patty says:

    Very fun! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

  9. Barbara Esposito, The Quilted B says:

    YOU are a FMQ-ing machine! this is just too cute and your quilting brought dumbo to life! Well done quilty friend, well done!

  10. Love the texture on the quilting and all the care and thought you put into this wonderful quilt!

  11. cheriec12 says:

    Wow, this turned out absolutely fabulous. I hope you get a picture with the new baby on it when she comes.

  12. quiltinggail says:

    Congratulations on a wonderful finish!!! And yes, Dumbo has wrinkled skin … just like in real life!
    Happy Quilting! 🙂

  13. Sharon says:

    Adorable! Love your quilting on the Dumbo quilt!

  14. Karen says:

    That is sew cute.

  15. LOOK at you go!!! Thank you so much for all the detail shots, and your explanation as to why you chose the motifs you did. Such good lessons here, and a wonderful soft, happy quilt!

  16. Shanon Fleming says:

    Simply wonderful!

  17. Lynette Caulkins says:

    What a super sweet OMG finish – Dumbo is great, and this quilt turned out very nice.

  18. Kathryn says:

    OMG this is utterly fabulous, such a great job of quilting it. Congrats its awesome.

  19. OMG Roseanne — Dumbo is beautiful — way to go on the quilting! Sue was right on about the squiggly stitching for the skin–your stars and hearts are great also ♥♥ That is one lucky baby!

  20. Brenda Ackerman says:

    Hello Roseanne, OMGoodness…this turned out magnificently! Sue was right about the squiggly stitches appearing to make him appear wrinkly and you did a great job in achieving that beautiful effect. Roseanne, you are becoming an expert Freemotion Quilter so quickly! I know that I am very proud of you and as your friend, I just want you to know that. With the smile that your co-worker has displayed, I am positive that she is quite happy with her baby quilt gift. Thank you for sharing this fabulous quilt with us! Have a marvelous day!

  21. Christine says:

    This quilt is amazing! The quilting really sets it off perfectly. I love how you can see Dumbo from that back. And “I Love You To The Moon And Back” is something I say to my kids all the time. Everything about this is just precious!

  22. Dawn Tornes says:

    An adorable baby quilt!

  23. Brilliant quilting – so mindful and apt.
    Bottom line tho: such a (he)artfelt baby quilt. If I were the Grand-Aunt, I might be tempted to cuddle up with it and keep it for myself.
    🙂

  24. Vicki in MN says:

    OMG, look at you go, fantastic FMQing girl!! Sue was right about the wrinkles;) The stars are fun to quilt and I know exactly what you mean about getting lost with them sometimes, especially if you change direction!!

  25. sandradny says:

    Gorgeous, gorgeous quilt!

  26. Dumbo looks terrific and that baby will be wrapped in love! Great job on all of it!

  27. Carol M says:

    Really love it!! Beautiful job!

  28. Linda says:

    Your quilting is quite spectacular, so thoughtful. What a cute panel, and yes all babies should know about Dumbo!

  29. Love it. It will be a fun quilt for them to enjoy for years to come!

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