It's for the Birds Blog Hop - My Turn!!!

Time for the It's for the Birds Blog Hop - Yippie!

I have been excited about this one because I had a specific project in mind to do and this gives me a reason to DO IT. To explain, I shall have to start at the beginning...

I had won some fabrics designed by Amy Bradley

during the It's All About Me Blog Hop for my Mama Z bag, (here is a link to that entry) and one of the bundles of Amy's fabric had birds on it. As I opened the package on the dining room table, my 16 year old step-son Heron (yes, that is his name, just like the bird), was Oooing and Awwing over the fabric. He loves to sing and in fact sings ALL the time (we often have to remind him that there are others in the room that may not want to hear him singing at that time), and some of the fabrics have musical notes on them.

He REALLY liked them and thought all of the fabrics were really cool. As I was examining the fabrics and laying them out on the table, Heron quietly mumbled in a sheepish tone, "I'd kinda like a quilt with birds on it." His nickname is Birdman for obvious reasons, and even though he was a bit sheepish about his Bird Quilt request, I was listening.

Along came the announcement for this Blog Hop. I was so excited! It gave me a reason to get this quilt made for my step-son. I have made it in secret and have decided that it will either be a birthday present for him in August, or a Christmas present.

In designing this quilt, I decided to start with H blocks since his name is Heron. I debated whether or not to actually put a Heron on the quilt, but decided against it as it would not go well with the adorable multi-colored birds in Amy's fabrics.

I wanted to feature this cute white fabric which had the singing birds on it, so I added a square in a square block.

This blue "birds on a wire" fabric was just so adorable, that I wanted to let as much of the birds be seen, so I cut 6" squares and added them to the over-all design.

In order to get the most out of my "bird" fabric, I calculated how many blocks I could get out the fat quarters, using every last scrap that I could. I decided to go with a layout of 4 x 5 12" blocks consisting of 4 six inch blocks in each.

I had to add a few mismatched blocks here and there to complete the layout, but I really liked the look of how random it was, so I actually ended up adding a few more in the mix.

I concentrated on using colored fabrics from my stash to compliment the colors that Amy's birds were in her fabrics.

The border is made of birdhouses that I simply made up as I went along. Didn't bother using patterns, I'm kinda a miss-matched kind of girl, so I just MADE them, again, using fabrics from my stash and a ripped sheet that I chose to "up-cycle".

I had a spot where the fabrics did not quite meet together, so, (considering that I live in a suburb of Portland, OR), to quote the skit from the show Portlandia, I "put a bird on it". I picked up the blue fabric and simply free-handedly cut a bird out of it, sewed it on, and gave it thread details.

Here is the entire quilt.

The back of the quilt consisted of solids that I had in my stash.

I quilted by machine in yellow thread using a simple meandering stitch all over. I completed one or two strips at a time to avoid too much bulk and it being too heavy to maneuver with my machine. I think the back makes for a pretty cool modern-looking quilt all on it's own.

I am pretty proud of myself for completing this Bird Quilt. I love the fact that I did not have to purchase anything to complete it and simply used what I already had. Makes me want to see how much more I can make and finish just using that which I already have here at home. I think my next project that I would like to start is a "modern" style quilt because I have never done one, and I think it might be pretty cool to do so. I have another step-son that would need a quilt too... hmm...

Thanks for stopping by! A BIG thank you to Madame Samm and to Mary for putting this Hop together.

Please visit our other Bloggers today:

Thursday, May 9

http://englating.se/wp

http://lauraluvsloons.blogspot.com

http://marjoriesbusycorner.blogspot.ca

http://ruffhaven.blogspot.com

www.pigtalesandquilts.com

http://debbykratovilquilts.blogspot.com

http://why-knot-kwilt.blogspot.com

http://beaquilter.com

http://gwenbru.blogspot.com

http://pccrafty.blogspot.com

http://pumpkinpatchquilter.blogspot.com

http://sherry-blessingsfromournest.blogspot.com

http://zellerwear.blogspot.com

http://crafting365days.blogspot.com.au

http://charlottescreationsanew.blogspot.com

http://Janesquilting.blogspot.com

http://Ipiece2-Mary.blogspot.com

Have a very Tweet day!

Lavonna ZWB