This colorful handmade Mambo Dogface synonym alphabet quilt could be used in a child's nursery, or as a decorative wall hanging, or it could be used as a lap quilt for someone who would benefit from mental stimulation.

To a child, figuring out the letters and the corresponding pictures won't be difficult because all words are equally new to them.  To an adult, however, most of the blocks can be tricky.   A is for....dinosaur?  No, A is for Apatosaurus!  B is for .....penguin?  B is for Bird, of course!  I envision this quilt as being a pleasant challenge for a person who may have had a stroke or other brain injury.  Used as a lap quilt or wall hanging, they couldn't help but look at the pictures and letters and challenge themselves to solve the puzzles in the blocks.  Used in a nursery, this quilt would give your child a chance to learn correct but less common first words.  Who wouldn't enjoy an advantage like that in preschool?

Mambo Dogface quilt has a dog themed, patchwork border.  Different blocks have puppies, paw prints, dog houses and bones.  The border is a a true red with bold colors for the border blocks.  Quilting for the border is done in a bone design.

The alphabet blocks are done on a white background with a kaleidoscope of colors representing the letters of the alphabet and corresponding pictures.  In each alphabet block is a letter of the Roman alphabet and a less-common synonym picture to represent it.  In the four corners, dog related pictures tie the piece together.  All of the letters and pictures are created by hand using paper-basted appliqué and hand embroidery.  The entire quilt was then hand quilted.

Creating one of these quilts is extremely labor intensive. First, paper pattern pieces must be made for each hand and letter as well as for each layer of color in the animals. Different fabrics are then basted to each piece of paper, and stitching lines marked on them. After sewing each of these pieces to the background fabric, the basting is pulled out, the paper is removed, and the block is embroidered. After all of the blocks are appliqued and embroidered, the top of the quilt is layered over batting and backing. It is basted, then hand quilted together. After that, it is trimmed, and the raw edges are stitched by hand. The binding is sewn on the front by machine and on the back by hand. Each of these quilts takes several months to create.  Quilt has not been prewashed. Once you launder it, it should develop the lovely characteristic, crinkled quilt look.

I first got the idea for this quilt years ago when I accidentally misread an alphabet quilt.  From then on, the idea of having an intentionally misleading quilt haunted me until I finally created one.  Now you can enjoy the fruits of my mistake as you teach your family with this inventive Mambo Dogface quilt!
 
Made in USA