Stick Your Neck Out There! (New Pattern Release!)

Can you believe it’s November 1st?!

I’ve been asked when when WHEN I was going to share the animal photos here on the blog.  And in the back of my mind I’ve been wondering just HOW HOW HOW I was going to present such variety and amazing experience into just a few posts on animals.  I can’t.  I just can’t -

And then it hit me – do the by type!  Do them by category!  Stick your neck out there and break it down.  And there isn’t a need to do it all at once.  I can chose an animal of the week, or every couple of days in between the “real life stuff” I have thrown myself back into since returning from Kenya.

Isn’t this pair just gorgeous? I love the one looking at me as if to say “Hey! Can’t you see we are eating here?”  In fact Giraffe are ALWAYS eating.  It’s their main job in life.  To eat and eat and eat and eat.

But what about sleeping?

In the wild, giraffes almost never lie down because of vulnerability to predators. They usually sleep standing, sometimes sitting, and they give birth standing up. When giraffes sleep, they curl their necks and sleep for about five minutes at a time, sleeping no more than 30 minutes a day.  I can’t imagine!

And then I saw 3!

I learned more about giraffes than I ever knew before.  When figuring out what kind of giraffe a giraffe is – look at their socks!

White below the knees – Rothschild Giraffe!

Reticulated Giraffe!

See the darker color?

Their pattern continues below their knees.

They are also known as the Somali giraffe, a subspecies of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa. It lives in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya.

What are YOU looking at??

it’s a boy!

I love the pattern in his ears – and those eye lashes!  Did you know that male giraffes can have up to 5 horns (ossicones)?  Females have only 2.

While female ossicones are often thin and tufted, male giraffe normally have thicker ossicones that become bald on top as a result of frequent necking. In some species males grow a second pair of ossicones behind the first pair, as well as prominent ossicone in front of the main pair. This guy’s got it going on!

Rothschild.

Doesn’t he look like he’s in deep contemplation?

Can I say again just how much I love my Canon SX70 HS??

Why did the giraffe cross the road?

More food on the other side!

It must be family dinner night!

George!  You should have asked me before you invited the neighbors!

They are going to eat us out of house and home!

Thank goodness!  That’s the last of them! Whew!

This was just the most amazing animal!

We did get to visit the Giraffe Sanctuary when back in Nairobi on our last day. We got to see them up close, and feed them!  To get this close to a giraffe was just such an amazing experience.

Jamie and Robin!

I want to take her home with me!

Be happy, sweetheart!

(Yes, I was kissed by a giraffe ….AND…I liked it! LOL!)

Love you!

My giraffe videos – Click to Play!

And this is also a great time to let you know that our TWIGA giraffe stitchery wall hanging quilt PDF pattern is ready for purchase!

Twiga Digital Pattern!

Phone/Tablet users - please download to a REAL COMPUTER first so you can save the file in a place you can find it. Then navigate to the file, click to open and print. At this point you can also transfer to your mobile device. Know where your files go BEFORE you download them!

Twiga is Swahili for Giraffe, and I designed this little project for my 2019 Quiltville Goes to Kenya traveler. The response has been so great that I am making it available to everyone as a digital PDF pattern download.

Instructions include the Giraffe image to trace, or print on to your fabric, or use the Stick'n Stitch overlay as I did with my students. Info included in the pattern.
Patchwork borders using a selection of aboriginal fabrics make this project sing!

Other items you might want to consider: My Essential Triangle Tool  makes cutting those half-square and quarter-square triangles so easy from strips!

This pattern uses Hemming chenille needles size 24.

I have a limited number of Wonderfil Spagetti 12 wt thread left from our trip for doing the embroidery part. Snatch it up while you can! When these spools are gone, they are gone.  12 wt thread is AWESOME to use in place of 2 strands of embroidery floss.  Less tangling, wonderful to work with.

Print the Twiga Image from your PDF pattern on to Sulky Stick ‘n Stitch instead of having to trace the image by hand to the fabric with a light box and a pencil. 

Stick 'n Stitch stabilizer combines the convenience of pressure-sensitive adhesive with the flexibility of a water soluble stabilizer. It is a printable temporary self-adhesive, fabric-like stabilizer that is ideal for getting your hand embroidery, punch-needle, cross stitch, quilting or other patterns onto your project fabric. 

Stick 'n Stitch can also be used as a topper or backing which looks, feels and behaves like fabric during embroidery or when used as a design pattern. Perfect for any reversible project since when it's rinsed away, no stabilizer remains on either side. All Sulky stabilizers are acid and lead free. There are 12 8 1/2’’ x 11’’ printer-friendly sheets in each pack.

And because we've had so much fun with the half-price sale of the Punkin Patch Table Runner pattern sale -I've decided to run one pattern a month at half price as well! For the month of November, you can find my Garlic Knots digital pattern 50% off in the Quiltville Store!

For the month of November only -

Garlic Knots PDF Pattern $4.00!

No Coupon Needed!

My golden Friday morning!

Our temps here in the Blue Ridge dropped below freezing last night – a wild wind and tons of rain have stripped the trees of nearly all foliage and I was delighted to see that with the leaves down I an finally see the sunrise over the ridges once again!  A bit more leaf fall and I’ll be able to see even further ridges in the distance – while I am not a fan of winter and nasty weather, there is something golden to be found in winter if I just look at the views outside my cabin sewing room door.

There is a busy weekend ahead.  If you’ve made it this far – you’ve REALLY stuck your neck out to get through it!  Yesterday’s introductory post to our Frolic Mystery has brought a lot of excitement around here!  I hope you are joining in! I’ve added our introductory post to the Frolic Mystery Tab at the top of the blog so it will be easy for you to find various clues, etc.

I’m still undecided on how we are going to run the Mystery Monday Link-Ups since InLinkz .com changed their login process. We shall see.

I’m bundling up and heading over to the Quiltville Post Office to tackle the next round of outgoing mail order!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage Double T quilt found Carolina.

It is important to always follow your own muse wherever it leads you, and there will be those who don't understand why you don't do things "like you always have."

It can't be our mission to create solely for the entertainment of others. It has to fill our own hearts and souls FIRST wherever it leads!

If where we go and what we create puts others out of their own comfort zones, so be it! This is your journey, not theirs.

Have a marvelous Friday, everyone!