Munch... Munch... and Much More

The Very Hungry Caterpillar made a second appearance on the quilt for my grandson in Oklahoma who will turn 5 in July. There is little difference between his quilt, MUNCH... MUNCH...  and the previous hungry caterpillar quilt titled MUNCH..., made for his cousin in Southern California who turned two mid-April. The binding fabric and the FMQ pattern are essentially the same for the two quilts. I completed MUNCH... in the beginning of March and MUNCH... MUNCH... ten days later. Previous three posts on these two quilts are dated 4/10/20, 4/11/20, and 4/13/20. Both quilts finished at 45" x 63".

Here is a comparison of the echo quilting between MUNCH... on the left for the two year old and MUNCH... MUNCH... on the right for the five year old. I thought there might be an improvement with practice but not so. Even if I squint, I cannot detect any increased steadiness in my hand as my confidence built. What a relief! No improvement! There is no need for me to feel guilty that one quilt is better than the other and I am showing favoritism between grandsons. I did quilt the second quilt more quickly than the first because my decisions were pre-made. I quilted all the 50 weight thread first and then all the 40 weight. Since I did not switch threads as often, I saved time with the tension adjustment back and forth between the 50 weight white thread and the 40 weight variegated thread. In that sense, the experience gained was not for nought.

The name MUNCH... MUNCH... indicates that an older, larger, caterpillar was at work. Two other notably different variations:

• The backing fabric is primary colored irregular shapes with holes nibbled out by the few caterpillars scattered about.
• The labels are green grosgrain the current favorite color of the soon-to-be five year old, rather than blue grosgrain, like the stripes on the backing fabric of the other quilt.

I was proud of the backing seam. I was able to match the print so it is nearly invisible. It runs vertically down the center of the following photo. On the quilt it is a horizontal seam. The backing fabric runs "sideways" which means the caterpillars are not oriented up and down. No worries. I do not think that the caterpillars in nature are too gravity challenged. They crawl every which way on the leaves they munch. Grandpa's fingers and toes are included in the third photo.

Since these quilts had been twelve years in the making, I had plenty of time to collect related items to give with the quilt. In the Home Goods store a couple years ago, I happened upon some Very Hungry Caterpillar musical instruments – a harmonica, a pair of castanets, and a recorder. The recommended age was 2+ so they would be perfect. I bought two of each instrument, remembering I had those two kits to make, and stored the toys away. I put them in the plastic bin with the kits so I would be able to find them when the time came.

Recently a quilt friend of mine came to a meeting with an adorable tote bag that was made up like a old-fashioned library checkout out card. She told me that it had been a gift from her daughter from a web site called Out Of Print. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I went to the website and bought one for myself. While I was there online shopping, I hit the jackpot of Very Hungry Caterpillar paraphernalia. There was a zip pouch and I bought two. The pouch was the perfect size to hold the three instruments. When I removed the instruments from their packaging, I could fit them, as well as the card for each, within the pouch and still be able to zip it closed.

The Out Of Print site also had an adult caterpillar tote and I child-size caterpillar tote. Naturally I bought two of each as well. The reverse side of the totes and the zippered pouch with images of one apple, two pears, three blueberries, four strawberries, and five oranges is also whimsically adorable. The larger tote is perfectly-sized to hold the folded up quilt; the smaller tote is well-sized to hold a hard cover copy of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I included a 50th anniversary edition.

As I was preparing to package the second quilt and assorted accessories for mailing to Oklahoma, my husband tossed this envelope on my cutting mat. He had come across it while cleaning out the garage, having been saving it for the commemorative stamps since he is a stamp collector. There, in the upper right corner, was a 2006 issue stamp for The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The US Stamp Gallery posts the following description for the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar commemorated by the 2006 issue stamp. The 30 million copies sold at the time cited in the website's posting has been surpassed.

The most recent information I could find on the publication popularity of The Very Hungry Caterpillar book was from the Wikipedia entry for the author Eric Carle stating

He is most noted for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book that has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies, equivalent to 1.8 copies sold every minute since it was published in 1969.

Great Britain has also issued a stamp jointly with the United States in 2006, honoring the book. Great Britain's stamp includes little holes in it, as if that very hungry caterpillar had taken a few bites out of it.

From a stamp collector's blog I learned that Japan issued a souvenir sheet in 2018 commemorating The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Since my daughter usually takes pictures of her quilts and clothing creations outdoors on her front porch, I decided to do the same for what I was giving her son, my grandson. First is the quilt next to its small pouch of musical instruments. Then follows the quilt with a corner flipped down to show the backing along with the other two tote bags.

Here is a closeup of that famous and quite plump caterpillar both on the tote bags and on the bottom panel of the quilt.

Here is a closeup up of more of the FMQ: the wavy caterpillar-like lines in the solid borders, the stitching around the snacks, and the wavy grid in the letter corner blocks.

The 50th anniversary addition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is shown juxtaposed to the label of the quilt named Munch...Munch....

All is documented, ready to be packed up, and then mailed off. Happy Birthday, Isaiah!

Per Linn's Stamp News the caterpillar stamp is one of eight commemorative stamps in the series Favorite Children's Book Animals. It features creatures from Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, E.B White’s Charlotte’s Web, Dr. Seuss’ Fox in Socks, Lucy Cousins’ Maisy’s ABC, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, Margret and H.A. Rey’s Curious George Flies a Kite, Ian Falconer’s Olivia, and Leo Lionni’s Frederick.

I am very familiar with five of the characters but not so much with Maisy, Olivia, and Frederick. I intend to learn about each of those remaining three forthwith. But I have no intentions of making seven other quilts themed for Favorite Children's Book Animals. Linking up with Main Crush Monday #173 at Cooking Up Quilts.