Quilted Star Blanket

My Mom's cousin Vickie recently finished this Quilted Star Blanket incorporating a colourful patchwork star made by my Grandma (Vickie's Mimi) many years ago before she lost her sight to macular degeneration. 

My Grandma loved to quilt before her vision faded. She was very talented and very generous. She made many, many quilts over the years as gifts for her extended family, children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren. 

I loved her quilts especially the colourful patchwork ones and still have a few brightening the look of our double size spare beds.

This patchwork star was gifted to Vickie when Grandma passed because she had inherited my Grandma's passion and talent for quilting. Vickie put it away for a later date. The patchwork star was put away for years, but never forgotten. 

This winter with covid lock down, Vickie decided to spend her time creatively. She dug out this star and made a quilt for me because she knew I would appreciate the connection to my Grandma. And she was right. It is a gift I will treasure forever. 

Feast your eyes on this Quilted Star Blanket. I did my best to capture the beautiful vibrant colours. I can't help but smile every time I look at it. I hope it brightens your day a little too. Enjoy!

 

 

 

I absolutely love what Vickie did with Grandma's patchwork star. The blue background and borders complement it perfectly. Vickie had a friend machine quilt the blanket, but Vickie did the rest including hand sewing the binding ... truly a labour of love. 

This Quilted Star Blanket with its bright bold colour scheme looks amazing in our guest room. Thank you Vickie. I love love love it!!   

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Crocheted Willendorf Venus

A friend of mine gave me a copy of a pattern by Trishagurumi to crochet The Willendorf Venus. I had never heard of the Venus of Willendorf, but was fascinated reading about this tiny paleolithic sculpture. Just imagine finding something from so long ago. 

According to Wikipedia:

"The Venus of Willendorf is an 11.1-centimetre-tall (4.4 in) Venus figurine estimated to have been made 30,000 BCE.[1][2] It was found on August 7, 1908, by a workman named Johann Veran[3] or Josef Veram[4] during excavations conducted by archaeologists Josef Szombathy, Hugo Obermaier, and Josef Bayer at a paleolithic site near Willendorf, a village in Lower Austria near the town of Krems.[5][6] It is carved from an oolitic limestone that is not local to the area, and tinted with red ochre. The figurine is now in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.[7]"

I planned to crochet my own Willendorf Venus as soon as I finished my chameleon. Who knew it would take so long? If you missed it, you can read about my crocheted chameleon here. 

I started this Willendorf Venus on Mothers' Day finishing in less than a week. She was a joy to make. I just love how she looks. To me she celebrates fertility and the female form ... a crocheted replica of a stone age sculpture encouraging body positivity. 

Take a look at the photos below to see my Crocheted Willendorf Venus. For comparison, I've also included a photo collage showing the real Venus of Willendorf. Isn't she amazing?

  

My Willendorf Venus stands proudly on our mantel next to my gnomes. My growing collection of crochet nudes. 😊

If you'd like to make your own Willendorf Venus, you can find Trisha's free pattern here.

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Crocheted Chameleon

 

This one took forever to finish ... five months to be exact. 

It seems an eternity has passed since I started this Crocheted Chameleon the day after Christmas. Back then, I was spending most of my spare time rock climbing at The Junction with little time for crochet. We went to Cuba for two weeks in February like we usually do. We were home for just two weeks then my husband was off to Cuba yet again ...this time to lead a two-week bike tour. I had planned a trip to Toronto to visit friends for a weekend while he was away, so took a break from this chameleon to make a few dishcloths for gifts. Something less complicated is a welcome relief when working on a project like this. 

My husband returned from his bike tour in Cuba late on March 14, the day before covid-19 self-quarantine rules for travelers returning to Canada from "anywhere" came into effect. My husband planned to work from home. Unaware of the updated travel advisory, I went to work as usual but was sent home and instructed to stay home for two weeks watching for symptoms. We both had to self quarantine to ensure we did not expose anybody else to risk of infection. 

You might think I would have used my 'free' time wisely or at least productively. I did not. I wallowed. I watched Netflix and YouTube videos and generally fretted about the state of the world with covid-19 spreading everywhere. 

I could not believe how quickly our lives and routines were changing. I stopped crocheting while I mentally processed the craziness of covid-19. Never have I experienced anything even remotely like this. I felt stuck in a zombie apocalypse with invisible zombies ...not a fun place to be.

Over time, as I've slowly come to terms with covid-19 and our 'new normal', I picked up my hooks and started crocheting again. What can I do? Life goes on. I can complain or I can crochet. I choose to crochet. 

This Crocheted chameleon is the thirteenth I've completed from Vanessa Mooncie's Crocheted Wild Animals book. He was happy to pose for photos even though it was a little cold outside Mothers' Day weekend. 

I love how this chameleon changes colours. It's basically two chameleons in one that magically transforms by turning inside out through its mouth. Check out the photos below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

  

To make this Crocheted Chameleon, I followed Vanessa Mooncie's pattern as written changing only the suggested yarn. I used two 100 g balls of King Cole Drifter DK for baby yarn - one in Spearmint (greens) and one in Lilac Tints (purples). It was a complicated pattern to make with the inside-out colour changing trick, but totally worth the extra effort. 

I just love how this Crocheted Chameleon turned out ...inside out. 😁

Here's the complete list of animals featured in the Crocheted Wild Animals book with the thirteen I've done so far listed below. 

Done:

1. Owl
2. Rabbit
3. Frog
4. Polar Bear
5. Lion
6. Fox
7. Elephant
8. Camel
9. Flamingo
10. Snake
11. Monkey
12. Fawn (aka Deer)
13. Chameleon

Not Done Yet:

• Giraffe

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Sharing Crochet Cuteness

On Mothers' Day, I was thrilled to receive an email from a reader in South Africa. Bridgette's message was so uplifting, I decided to share it along with my reply. I hope you enjoy this special bit of crochet cuteness too.

Bridgette's message:
"My name is Bridgette . I live in South Africa and I crochet toys for the homeless children, my moms church goes into the poor areas the rest of us can’t get to and they do puppet shows and after the puppet show they hand out toys for the children and food . I love your patterns and I just wanted to show the blueberry teddy and my attempt at Minnie Mouse with your Boo Bear Pattern . I have upload the pics to my Pinterest profile with the link attached to pic for the pattern for your Meo My Crochet blog so people will know the pattern is your pattern."

My reply:
"Hello Bridgette, I love your teddies. They are very cute and great gifts for children. What a fun way to donate your talent and time. Thanks so much for this message. It made my day. Happy crocheting!" 

 

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