Alphabet Tuesday: Z is for Zebra

Well there he is, a little zebra to complete my Dick Bruna alphabet panels.

I only started this panel yesterday, I had an "Oh my god, its Monday!" moment and hopped straight to it.  I hadn't had a close look at the illustration before then but did have some half ideas in my head about how it was going to go together.  I realised with some dismay and absolute resignation that it could only be done piece by piece, all 23 of them alternating black and white to hopefully end up with a correct representation of the original.  I cut out all the little pieces yesterday (with a stiff wind blowing though the house = mistake!) and last night spent considerable time shifting the pieces around the backing fabric to get just the right placement.  Yes, I had to move 23 pieces everytime I wanted a slight adjustment up or down, or left or right.  Then hunched over the kitchen bench under the bright halogen lights I started to sew all the pieces down.  I finished this morning (after quitting and going to bed, I didn't sew through the night) with aching shoulders and hopefully not a permanently hunched back from sitting at the kitchen stool.  Looking forward to a good yoga session tomorrow to straighten myself out again.

Next year I have the task of getting all these panels together into a wall hanging for my son's room.  Happily we are moving to a new house next year, finally our own house.  Yes, we will be home owners (gulp!).  The timing couldn't be more perfect for this project.  Don't worry, after setting myself up again after the move I'll be updating how the project is coming along and it will eventually be completed - rectangular? horizontally long? vertically long?  The choices! I'll have to see what fits best in the new house.

Thanks for following along this year, I couldn't have done it without the accountability factor of posting it to the blog!