Technically, it's geckos being featured here, but I do love any kind of lizard or lizard-type reptile. Except Komodo Dragons. I just can't find anything endearing about a prehistoric lizard monster that can poison me to death with one bite. But the rest of them are just plain cute, imo. In fact my favorite Mother's Day present ever was a pair of anoles, who lived in a beautiful terrarium in our family room until one of them escaped and wasn't found until six months later, dried to a crisp behind the pinball machine. By that time I was tired of catching crickets and moths to feed them, so anole number 2 went back to the pet shop.
But I digress. About three years ago, I started what I call my personal 'mandala wall quilt,' which was to feature--you guessed it: lizards. Or rather, geckos.
(This was before the upstairs was made into a quilt studio. At that time, all designing took place on the bed and the dining room table.)
Two geckos were left over from that project, and instead of tossing them into the 'un-used element' drawer, I fused them onto a pretty fat-quarter from my stash.
Then they were put in the closet to become my first UFO...until a couple of weeks ago. Now they're a FO.
Kissing Geckos
All stitching in the interior, including satin stitch and couching, was done in free motion, feed dogs down.
The 24-weight metallic rayon thread under the couching is free-motion bobbin work, as are the spirals. The couching came as an afterthought, when I realized the metallic thread wasn't showing up very well (although it does look more bling-y in the right light).
The border was stitched with a built-in machine stitch, feed dogs up, dual feed foot on. I left long thread tails at the corners and finished the stitching by hand, as the stops and starts for this stitch didn't line up well (which I found out by testing on a scrap).
And now for the cuteness factor:
How can anyone not love those pointy little heads, and those sticky little toes???
If you love lizards, no doubt you agree. If you aren't a lizard-lover, but you managed to get all the way to the end of this post, geckos--I mean, kudos--to you!! :)
Linda
Интересно, фантазийно и детально продумано.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteYou did warn me...LOL.....what a cute project. I love your close-ups of the stitchings. Thank for sharing. I like lizards as long as they stay outside the house. Every now and again one gets in the house and it's not a pretty picture of me trying to shoo it out!!
ReplyDeleteLOL Rhonda, see, now I would be catching it and keeping it as a pet (until I got tired of feeding it!). :D
DeleteLove to see your stitching on this fun project. Thanks for sharing. The fmq is adding a lot. It gives me the impression of a dessert. Beautiful FO.
ReplyDeleteOh, good! I was hoping the stippled background would look like desert sand. Thank you, Maartje!
DeleteNow what's better than a blog post full of leaping lizards! Your FO came out FA (fantastically amazing)
ReplyDeleteThe spirals in your fmq is the perfect touch
Carol, LOL, I almost titled the post leaping lizards. I was crossing my fingers that it wasn't a mistake to stitch hand-drawn spirals vs. a perfect spiral (no templates here, obviously), so I'm glad they look good to you. Thanks so much!
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