Centipede: Quilt-Toy for a Tot

One of the last hikes I took, way back the end of January, 2020, was with a friend and her two-and-a-half-year-old boy. We were only able to propel ourselves by means of a game of fetch the ball and a race between the tot and me (my foot was hurting so he won frequently). Unfortunately, it was cut short by my receipt of bad news, but on the way back we stopped briefly. He was fascinated by bugs, a species located conveniently closer to him than to tall grups. I crouched down. A centipede, I told him. With about one hundred legs. He seemed enchanted. We watched it undulate down the center of the path until I had to press on.

And now he will be three, and in thinking about a card or present, I ended up piecing a centipede from a wide variety of scraps to make fifty segments. Another friend said it looked like it should be on a quilt, and I agreed. But I also wanted it to be a kind of toy. So, this.

The background and binding are from the dye experiments with the "Brazil Nut" color, which I love.  I backed the centipede first, then hemmed the edges. I first freehand machine-quilted the background with variegated thread. Then sewed the centipede to the background with embroidery thread. A folded black ribbon for the feelers. Legs are the threads that sew the sections together, left long.

The back was also hand-dyed, this side to a uniform blue.

It is about 8" wide by about 30" long. (I forgot to measure it before I sent it away.)

A scarf, a belt, a wrapper, a scroll, a toy. Centipede.