Elmer the Patchwork Elephant Baby Quilt

This was a commissioned piece for a repeat customer.  She wanted a quilt to be made for a new baby, and for it to be based on the book Elmer the Patchwork Elephant by David McKee.  It is a story about a patchwork elephant who feels out of place around all the gray elephants. When he tries to hide his beautiful colors, he realizes that being his unique self is what truly makes him happy.  It is a super sweet book, and she wanted a cozy, touchable version of it.

I made the patchwork first out of scraps of colorful fabric first. The backing of the quilt is 768 - 2 inch squares pieced together.

Once I found a nice elephant pattern that looked like Elmer, I traced it out on the patchwork in reverse.  The Elmers were then appliqued onto fuchsia pink baby wale fabric.  Think super soft corduroy - it is so yummy to touch!  

 The idea was to be as colorful and scrappy as possible.  I opted for a very simple circle quilting pattern to play on the stripes in the wale fabric. The final effect was a nice texture without competing with the sweet elephants. 

There are also gray elephants that represent Elmer when he hid his colors. 

Wherever this quilt ended up, I hope the child that received it loves it as much as I do!