For the Bird Lovers

A Temple owl perhaps?

This month I purchased this sweet quilt top from Bridget who owns the Etsy shop, Bridget Bright Arrow. "Sweet" was how Bridget described it.  I felt the same way when I saw it. So much in fact, I moved it from the bottom of the pile of tops for machine quilting to right under the needle.

There are 24 hand embroidered bird blocks representing birds of North America, both domesticated and wild, from warm and cold climates for our feathered friends. The finished size is 43 1/2 inches x 63 inches.

It is quite exciting to take a vintage quilt top and breathe some new life into it.

I knew I wanted to quilt a fiddlehead fern in the green alternating blocks. When I did a google search for a picture of a fern so I could get an idea of how to quilt it unfurling its greenery...I came across this web site with free motion quilting for the fern. Leah, the free motion quilting blogger,  is amazing and there are videos attached on how she quilts.  (Time out for a confession - okay, so I spent a few hours fascinated with her blog.  Sometimes these things happen.  For me, it is machine quilting.)  While my fiddlehead fern looks nothing like Leah's...it is because free motion quilting can be as different and individualized as handwriting.

The embroidery designs are outlined and where I felt the thread was a bit loose, my machine quilting acted as couching.

January is slowly winding down and soon the countdown to spring will begin.   Until then, I'm going to keep locked away in my sewing room and get through some projects I've allocated to the back burner for too long, because more time spent quilting means less time thinking about how cold it is outside!

New Quilts from an Old Quilt

In August I purchased a nine patch quilt top on Etsy which measured 66" x 83".  I liked the colors! The palette was so happy compared to the somber prints of the 19th century which fill my shelves.   Before I even clicked the purchase tab, I had mentally challenged myself to create four baby quilts from this piece.  Happy colors for happy times with baby.

You can see how the bright colors acted like a neon sign flashing "buy me.... buy me".

But during my love fest with this charming piece of 20th century, I found myself a bit leery of the above red fabric.  I have made it a habit to wash fabrics to ensure color fastness and stability to ensure they will hold up in years of repurposed use.   Good reason to be cautious as the red dye was not stable and bled into the adjoining plaid.  The lesson for everyone:  when in doubt always test your fabric before sewing.

 

My plans for how I was going to make the baby quilts had to switch gear as I had to cut out every nine patch with the red cotton.  This new plan of action was easier than I thought.  Here was the first quilt.

The nine patches now resemble hole in the barn door blocks.  I included reproduction 30's prints and Moda fabric by Sandy Klop.

It was purchased for a new baby expected in March 2012. 

The second baby quilt I made I called Vintage Blocks New Quilt Nine Patch and Circles.  The circular blocks were a nice addition, but I was accumulating a pile of fabric scraps.

Since I couldn't throw away even the tiniest of pieces,  my solution was to piece them together in long bars for the Homage to Mary Engelbreit quilt.  The traditional Chinese Coins  pattern was my inspiration for the design for the third quilt.

I can understand why 20th century quiltmakers fells in love with feed sacks.  Unlike broadcloth and percale also manufactured during the era, feed sacks have a lower thread count making it easy to needle. 

Today I finished up the fourth quilt from the original vintage nine-patch quilt.

I set four patches I salvaged from the original quilt on point. Then I set them with alternating blocks from the American Jane fabric by Sandy Klop for Moda. 

Now the real challenge - how to use the remaining scraps to create just one more quilt!