Blue Rhino

Rachel’s coat, All Things Blue, is a collection of representations of everything Rachel could think of that is blue, her favorite color. The first time Rachel showcased All Things Blue, an audience member asked why she hadn’t included a blue rhino in the coat. Rachel had never heard of a blue rhino, but after looking it up, she decided that the blue rhino needed its own place on the coat.

While deciding what else to include, Rachel remembered a crazy quilt block paper-piecing project she had set aside a year earlier. She had been excited about making blue paper-pieced crazy quilt blocks, so much so that she had made 100 of them. After finishing the 100th block, she felt too tired of them to continue and boxed them up for later. The blue rhino coat became that “later” project.

Thus, the coat features a blue rhino with a yellow-gold horn, 100 blue paper-pieced crazy quilt blocks, a rhino-themed orange and blue lining, and a Dutch wax batik border.