elephants

i made an elephant for a friend back in Feb for her baby shower. it is the cutest thing but everytime i sit down to make another i forget how it is put together. monday i cut out 2 more and have not had to rip anything out, before that i think i had to rip off an ear. the elephant before that i only had so much material and after i had everything cut out and laid out i realized one ear had to be sewn on upside down. james noticed it right a way but no one else has looked that close and maybe no one else will.

so a lady asked me to make her 2. it has taken me 6 months to do so. now why is that? because i lost my pattern! but please, is my craft room that messy~ yes, yes it is!!!! not only is sewing set up in there i've got scrapbooking, card making and quilting going on. so i've resolved to not go to joanns or hobby lobby or hancock fabrics. i will only purchase material when it is on sale at quilt shops or when i need something to finish a project.

i need to work on my red/white and my blue/white and finish them. they are to cute to let lay around as tops and i'll get to practice machine quilting as i do it. my question about machine quilting is: how does one go about tying off the ends of thread when one is done with a line or squiggle and you don't want a continuous line on the quilt? a bit wordy? sorry. backstitching shows, knots show so what is one to do?

is anyone interested in a quilting bee to hand sew a crib quilt i'm working on?