I was really excited when Mdm. Samm announced this blog hop. My DH and I feed the birds year round and always enjoy watching them outside of our sunroom windows and snapping their pictures. I wish my camera did a better job through the window, but this was the best I could do.
I am excited to share my projects with you today. The first is a cardinal wall hanging. The background is made using Eleanor Burns' "Trip Around the World" technique. I sewed several pieces of fabric together to form a large loop, cut the loop into several smaller loops of different sizes, took them apart at different seams, and sewed them back together. I wanted the effect of the sky coming through the leaves in the woods. Then, I hand-appliqued the cardinals onto the background. They have small black beads for eyes. If you look closely, you can see there are leaves hand quilted in the background.
I also made a Ryan McKenna quilt out of the Fons and Porter magazine (last September's edition). I saw her demonstrate how to make it on "Love of Quilting." I knew it would be perfect to make for this hop. I love her use of batiks in quilts. This one was machine appliqued. I fused the pieces onto the background, then layered the quilt. The machine applique was done through all 3 layers, so that little additional quilting was needed.
The butterflies are 3 dimensional, attached by the bodies. Then, the antennae were embroidered. A small black bead was all that was needed for a perfect eye for this chickadee.
I am excited to share my projects with you today. The first is a cardinal wall hanging. The background is made using Eleanor Burns' "Trip Around the World" technique. I sewed several pieces of fabric together to form a large loop, cut the loop into several smaller loops of different sizes, took them apart at different seams, and sewed them back together. I wanted the effect of the sky coming through the leaves in the woods. Then, I hand-appliqued the cardinals onto the background. They have small black beads for eyes. If you look closely, you can see there are leaves hand quilted in the background.
I have really admired Ryan McKenna's work for quite awhile, but this is the first year I have attempted any of her patterns. This first one is from her "Forest Hollow" collection. I machine appliqued part of the block "Out on a Limb". It is machine quilted.
I used a brown colored pencil to make the bars on the owl's wings. Everything else is appliqued. The feathers were each put on individually.
The butterflies are 3 dimensional, attached by the bodies. Then, the antennae were embroidered. A small black bead was all that was needed for a perfect eye for this chickadee.
My 4th bird quilt is from a pattern by Columbine Designs called "Rocky Mountain Memories." I changed the flower from the original pattern to a blue columbine since that is Colorado's state flower. I made it for my daughter-in-law, Susan, who lives in Colorado.
Another quilter that I really admire is Carol Armstrong. If you love applique and hand quilting and aren't familiar with her work, you should check out her books. She has books on birds, cats, wildflowers, etc. The hand quilting on this block was inspired by her work. This quilt is also hand appliqued.
I finished my last project Sunday. I loved this fabric when I saw it at JoAnn's and thought it would make a great project for this hop, especially since my previous projects didn't include bird fabric. The purse is patterned off of one taught to my quilting club by a friend, Betty Sue. I adapted the pattern somewhat so that it would have a coordinating band at the top and left off the outside pockets because I didn't want to hide the beautiful fabric.
I love the way my machine quilting turned out. Every project I do gets a little bit better. I know I owe a lot of the success to my Janome 7700. It makes my sewing and quilting sew much easier!
It does have 3 pockets inside to help keep me organized, and everyone who really knows me knows that I need all of the help I can get in that area!
Thanks to Mdm Samm and Mary for all of their time devoted to this hop. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's work today and throughout the hop! The schedule for today is below. Make sure you visit all of the other bird lovers. Have fun following the hop! I know I will!
Tuesday, May 7
