I have had this printed panel since the early 1990s. In fact, I have two of them, along with additional panels of cows, pigs and chickens to cut out and applique. Designed by Joan Kessler for Concord Fabrics, you can still find these gems on eBay!
I originally collected this panel and a host of cow-themed fabrics to make a quilt for a well-loved kindergarten teacher. Imagine my dismay when she let me know there was no way she would appreciate a cow-themed quilt (despite having a huge collection of cow-kitsch in her classroom). On to Plan B for the teacher and the cow fabrics!
I decided the beautiful bovine panel was just begging to be the center of a medallion quilt. Elsie in the middle, surrounded by lots of cow fabric borders. I've experimented with several different borders, but only recently settled on the current incarnation:
I added the flying geese border this weekend. It's not stitched down yet, but it's definitely a keeper! The next piece in the medallion puzzle is a batch of Ohio Star blocks. They were created several years ago, and I love the blocks, but was never happy with their placement on previous incarnations of the quilt. My plan is to add another plain border before adding the star blocks. The border only needs to be 3 inches wide to keep the size consistent for the Ohio Stars.
Here's what I'm envisioning - a border of gold or green, then the border of Ohio Stars. I've tried some other approaches and they're just too busy. Of course, I don't have enough of the gold fabric I'm experimenting with here (Subtle Solids by Thimbleberries), so I'll have to do some shopping to see if I can find a fabric that will work. In the meantime, I'm leaving this on the design wall in hopes Elsie will give her moo of approval.
