More fabric! And an Elephant
My family and I just returned from a trip to Idaho. And while we there, I of course had to visit the local quilt store. The shop, called The Gathering Place, is in downtown Rupert. I had no idea what to expect when I came in - I was blown away! With nearly 2,000 bolts of fabric, the store is massive.
I wandered through room after room of fabric until I realized I had grabbed more bolts than I could carry. So I went and got a cart. Yes! They have carts for fabric shopping! I was so happy :) The store carries a wide variety of fabrics: reproductions, wovens, modern prints, novelties, and lots of solids. Plus they had selections of minky, flannel, knit, interfacings, canvas and courdroy. It was literally everything I could dream of in a quilt store. I shopped for about two hours before I finally had to cut myself off.
The store carries a lot of modern fabric. I saw designs from Tula, Sharon Holland, Bonnie Christine, Rifle Paper and Co, Ruby Star Society, Anna Graham, AGF, Carolyn Friedlander, and many more. I’m only somewhat embarrassed to admit this, but I went to The Gathering Place twice during our nine-day trip. And plan to come back again someday!
The top picture was my haul from the first visit. And below shows all the fabric I bought throughout the trip. The handmade tags were purchased at The Yarn Shop in Twin Falls, Idaho. I can’t wait to get sewing with all these new fabrics!
And I know you were wondering where the elephant came in! I begun this amigurmi project around a month ago in hopes of selling it at the Plants and Paws event. But, alas, it was not to be. I ran out of yard with only 2.5 limbs left to crochet. And although I ordered more yarn immediately, it didn’t arrive until after the event. (It was very infuriating to walk into my house after coming home from the crochet market and see that the yarn had arrived only one day too late.)
Please excuse the bling. My elephant was sitting on the table next to this necklace leftover from a recent costume party and someone in the family put the two together. And it stuck :) We’ve been having a lot of fun calling him by goofy rapper names and taking photoshoots wherever we go.
The Idaho road-trip was the perfect opportunity to finish this guy. This is the largest amigurumi project I have made, and I definitely learned quite a bit. It’s important to stuff each body part fully, otherwise the animal ends up being very floppy. And I learned how to embroider details on crocheted fabric; it wasn’t as easy as I had thought. I still have to sew the tail on, but other than that Mr. Elephant is just gonna have to sit and wait for the perfect gifting occasion, probably a baby shower!
Project Overview: Amigurumi Elephant
Pattern - Bubba the Elephant by ChiquiPork
Time - just guessing, but maybe 10 hours
Cost - $8
Yarn - Encore by Plymouth Yarn Company Inc. (25% wool, 75% acrylic)
