All Aboard the Circus Train!

Hi Quilting Friends,

Are you old enough to remember when the circus would come to town?  The “Shriner’s Circus” visited our little Montana town every couple of years, and it was such wondrous fun to go to the show and see the performers and their animals.  My favorite act was usually the elephants, or maybe the clowns with their little bitty car.

I’m not sure how the circus arrived in our town when I was a kid.  They probably loaded everyone and everything into a caravan of semi-trucks and trailers, and then drove on down the highway.  But some of you might remember the colorful circus trains!  All aboard!

And now for my version of a colorful, quilted, circus train:

Every train needs an engine, to provide power!  This engine is strong enough to pull the whole train.

And every train engine needs fuel.  This steam engine needs lots of coal to keep it puffing along, so the coal hopper must be completely filled!

Now here come the animals!  Who would ride in this colorful carriage?  Oh look!  It is filled with trained monkeys.

This car is really adorable with its heart and swirls!  The pretty prancing ponies and the zebra feel right at home in this beautiful carriage.

Just look at this one!  It is simple and elegant.  There’s a good chance that the big cats are lurking here.  I’m SO excited to watch the lion tamer at work, aren’t you!

This car carries the star of the show!  Let’s get right in front of the crowd so we don’t miss the elephant.  He’ll be busy helping to set up the bigtop tent after the train has unloaded.

And how about a boxcar to store the costumes & props for the acts, the hay for the animals’ bedding, and the delicious animal food?  (We really don’t want those lions to be hungry, now do we?)

You don’t actually think that the performers would ride in the cars with the animals, do you?  This roomy passenger car will carry them in comfort, with plenty of room for the clowns’ over-sized shoes.

And there’s a little red caboose at the end of the train.  Please wave at the crowd who has gathered to watch us arrive in town!  They’re SO excited to see the circus!

All of the circus train cars are made with a combination of foundation paper piecing and applique.  I had lots of fun with choosing colors and adding my own creative touches to the train car blocks.  I considered adding animals to my train cars, but decided against it.  It would have been really cute, but I like to encourage imagination & creativity!  

Wouldn’t these fun circus train cars make a great quilt for your engineer-to-be?  If you’d like to make your own circus train quilt, the patterns are available to purchase in Ms P’s Pattern Shop! 

We’re SO happy that you decided to visit us today.  Do you have fond memories of going to the circus?  What was your favorite act?

Happy quilting,

Sharon