Tale of a Troll and Two Quilts...

 

Just look at that face! Meet Big Pete. He is the creation of Danish artist Thomas Dambo and he was recently installed in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dambo's trolls are all constructed with many volunteers helping. I got to meet him in December when I visited family there.

Big Pete is made from all recycled materials. He's one of a family of five trolls located in various cities around the state. Here's a fun video narrated by the artist you might enjoy. 

Big Pete's big feet are both a blessing and a curse. He gets around on them readily, but, while walking, he crushes the wild flowers and other plants he loves so much. So he decided to lie down and save the plants. So explains the Dambo poem displayed at the site.

Here he is, reflecting on his dilemma. Very pensive looking. Go see Pete is you get a chance.

Here's a photo of our son Lee and me standing before Pete to give you an idea of his size. He's quite a fellow! That's Winston the Boxer with us. He enjoyed the outing, too.

We also visited The Whitewater Center there. One of the highlights was seeing these Scottish Highland cows in residence for the winter months. They are docile and friendly, so were a big hit with visitors.

And here is one of the quilts noted in the post title. I call it "Spare Parts" because it began with laying out assorted leftover blocks from other projects on the "design floor". As I studied the blocks, this combination emerged. Given its smaller size, I decided to machine quilt it myself on my domestic Bernina. I first watched Karen Brown's YouTube video for ideas and really liked how quick and easy it was to sew the wavy diagonal lines to complete the quilt.

The other quilt is a sweet old one from maybe late 1800s. I borrowed it from owner Suzon Teuton, who had it in her family treasures. It's a Florida quilt made by one of her ancestors. I love strippy setting and bars quilts, and this one was truly special. Suzon generously allowed me take it to quilt guild for other quilters to see and appreciate. That pink stripe is the print, and it along with all the fabrics are in such good condition despite their age. Notice the one yellow square in the middle of the quilt! So simple, it's made with Nine Patch blocks altertating with plain blocks, and wide sashing strips between the rows. Notice also how the plain blocks are in a tan colorway of the fabric print while the sashing is the same print but in a pink colorway. It's hand quilted in my favorite Baptist Fan motif. Just lovely!