We are always talking about the different shapes that make up quilt blocks. Squares, triangles, rectangles, even hexagons can be combined in a variety of ways to create tops of wonder to the eye. But besides sewing blocks with shapes, you can have a lot of fun with applique as well. Now not all of these quilts were appliqued, but they are all adorable animal designs! Judy made this quilt for a baby shower gift. Is it not absolutely adorable? The quilt itself is just a simple jelly roll race. Judy then appliqued that cute fox on top. She even used a bit of faux fur on the tip of his tail. She used a pantograph called Sprung to quilt the majority of the quilt, and then custom quilted just the fox. We did that by taping a blank piece of paper on top of our pantograph where the fox was. We placed the machine on the edge of the fox and traced the pantograph on the paper except where the fox was. It took awhile, but once done, she was able to quilt from behind using the pantograph confidently because she knew where to stop for the fox. Then she just traced the fox. The fleece back of the quilt really shows how impressive this technique is. Amazing! Makes me want one of my own! This next quilt is a straight forward applique block. This quilt that Rebecca made for her daughter, has these cute little owls in alternating backgrounds. She used a very cuddly minkee in the back to complete this lap quilt. To quilt it, she chose to outline the blocks, not on the seams, but a half inch or so on the inside of each block. She then traced each owl, his eyes, and his beak. The wings are half traced with an added swoop and some feathers across their bellies. Simple but effective and so cute! Valerie made a quilt for a granddaughter with these colors, and wanted to give her a pillow to match. She found the Lisa Unicorn by Elizabeth Hartman pattern. I like how she used the gold lamé for the horn. She also quilted it by outlining the unicorn and adding waves and curls to the hair and winding spiral up to the tip of the horn. Then she just echoed around the nose and ears. The eyes and nose were given centers, but outside of that the face is left blank. This is going to be a large pillow in a little girl’s room. Isn’t it precious? This last quilt was made by Karen using a pattern called Dogs in Sweaters also by Elizabeth Hartman. Her sister has dachshunds and her mother, who did the piecing, figured she’d appreciate this quilt. The pièce de résistance for me is the backing fabric she found for this quilt. Is it not perfect? I appreciate her using this as a backing and not trying to force it into the front. All the little dachshunds are so cute, but the colorful busy nature of the fabric, though perfect on the back, would have detracted from the intricate and well pieced dogs on the front. The background of the dogs in the front is a very simple gray material which looks good with the navy blue background of the backing fabric. The quilting was just an all over meander that was done very evenly. Overall, I think it’s a great composition. Whether paper pieced or appliqued, animals can be a fun addition to a quilt. With Mother Nature giving us so much to choose from, the possibilities are limitless for your next quilt.