Bambi, the Unexpected Gift: a journal quilt

   Bambi was a very influential movie in my life and I wanted the children to view it. Many said it was too scary; but my grandchildren loved the movie and wanted to see it repeatedly. Every night we kept them during the move to another state, they shouted eagerly: "BAMBI, BAMBI, BAMBI," when I asked what bedtime movie they wanted to watch.

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      Although the children did not appear anxious over the recent move and on the drive to their new home started asking 15 minutes out of town how long it would take to get there, the icing on the packed snacks was that when Joe drove into the new driveway four hours later, David, 2, spotted the statue of a deer on the neighbor's lawn and hollered out, "BAMBI!"
      As as the day went on, Joe looked out the window to see an antlered deer in the woods across the street; and by the time he rounded up the children to view it, a doe appeared. The animals remained there until eventually a car drove by to spook them. What a gift for the children on the arrival in their new home, one that made the grandmother quite thrilled, necessitating a journal quilt for this special occasion of gratitude.
      I found a fabric that looked like the deer in the movie. I made the white ribbon by fusing Wonder Under to the back of white fabric. On the Wonder Under, I drew the bow and ribbons freehand, cut them out and ironed them, fusing to the deer fabric. I quilted by using a blanket stitch on my sewing machine around the ribbon and a free motion funny grass stitch between the deer. I cut the quilted block to an exact 12 x 12 inches but then imperfected it when adding the iron-on hem binding and zig sag stitch to secure.