Irish Chain Wildlife Quilt Finish

Here it is, my finished Irish Chain Wildlife Quilt!!  I started this for my husband's 50th birthday, which was just a month and a few days ago.  I bought the fabric panel at a local quilt show a year or so ago, and found some coordinating fabric here and there.  I've been wanting to make an Irish Chain quilt for a while now, and using the panels in the center was a perfect opportunity.  It was also rather serendipitous, as after I made the quilt top, I realized / remembered that my husband's birth mother was Irish.  He was adopted at birth and we know almost nothing about his birth family, but do know that one fact.

As I mentioned in recent posts, my husband's only comment when I was making the quilt was that there was no elk in it.  My oldest son also shot his first elk on my husband's birthday, so I knew that I had to put an elk in there somewhere.  It's there, but you have to look hard... kind of like camouflage ;-).

The rest is quilted in an "antler" design.

The back was made from stash fabric.  With 2 boys and a husband, and even a boy hunting dog in the family, there's no shortage of "Mossy Oak Break-up" here... It's 60 by 60 inches, and yes, my husband totally loves it, and was very impressed with the quilted elk :-).

I'm linking up with Shanna at Fiber of All Sorts Finish party!!  Whew hew!!  Come join us over there!!

I'm also linking up with Crazy Mom Quilt's Finish It Up Friday!

WIP Wed, T@tT: Wildlife and Kale

I spent a good chunk of yesterday quilting my Wildlife Quilt that I'm making for a belated birthday present for my husband.  When I showed him the finished top, and asked him for input on borders and quilting, his one and only comment was "There's no elk!".  Hmmm...  So I had to figure out a way to get an elk in there somehow LOL.

I found an elk image on Google images, blew it up on the copy / printer, and traced it onto some tracing paper / physicians' office exam roll paper that I have on hand.

Then I stitched it onto the quilt.  I'm glad I only did one first to see if I wanted to do several throughout the quilt.  It hindsight, I wish I had stitched only the outline onto the paper, removed it, and then did the shading, because this

is a

to remove!! Anyone know if this will come out in the wash?  The rest of the quilt is quilted in a "sharp stipple" that I tried hard to make look like antlers.  I hope to get the binding on it today!!  Joining up with WIP Wed at Freshly Pieced!

I also just had to post a food item for Tuesday at the Table after making these kale chips last night for dinner!  Sorry for the lousy picture... I'm a card carrying member of the kale haters' club, but after getting 2 heads of it in our CSA / Co-op bin last week, I didn't want to throw it in our compost bin without trying something.  I found this recipe on the Food Network, and low and behold, they're actually pretty darn good!  Even my husband and kids agreed!

I also hope to make one of the Triple Zip's that Debbie is hosting a zip-along for.  Little does Debbie know, but I love zippers, and find them irresistible each time I spy them in thrift stores.  I have quite a collection, and hope to make up more than a few of these nifty pouches!!