A Bit of Catch-up….

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

This block from Civil War Bride needed a butterfly in the bottom right hand corner before it could be considered “Officially Finished”.

However, I wanted to find a really interesting fabric for the wings. A fabric that would do the butterfly proud! So I waited patiently. Then, I came across this chunk of fabric in my stash. (For those of you who are wondering, I am taking every bit of fabric for this quilt from my stash.) I love this type of fabric! The pattern repeat is symmetrical, rather than asymmetrical. These fabrics are rare, so grab them when you find them!

This dark curly part caught my eye.

I cut the butterfly wings out of the fabric so that the wings would be mirror images of each other. I placed the pattern so that the black curly part would be somewhere near the middle of the butterfly. The beauty of doing this, is that you never really know what you will end up with!

And here is the proud butterfly!

So once I got that off my mind, I continued on with my “Friends of Baltimore” block. I added some buds, stems and leaves. If you look closely, you will see that I used 2 different greens for the wreath and the stems. (Between you and I, that was a bit of an oopsy on my part. Mum’s the word!)

Then came the flowers, complete with buds and centers.

Next, came a pretty little bow…

… and, FINALLY, a couple of love birds!

Til next time….

Kerry

3Apr2013

Think Happy Spring Thoughts!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I looked out the window this morning and this is what I saw! Yikes!

So, I thought I better get busy and think some Happy Spring Thoughts! The next block from The Civil War Bride inspired me to think Spring!

First, I started with the branches and a few little leaves.

Then I added more leaves.

…and some more!

Next, I added the bird’s feet and the underbelly of the bird. (If you let your imagination run wild, it looks like a folk art kind of bird…but just wait…!) I used Ultra-Suede for these tiny pieces because they are really….tiny! When using Ultra-Suede, I just cut out the pieces without adding a seam allowance and stitch it in place. Easy peasy!

Next came the rest of the bird.

Then, I auditioned a few nests. Should I choose Nest #1…….

….or Nest # 2?

Til next time….

Kerry

15Mar2013

Row 2 of Civil War Bride Completed!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I was one block away from finishing the second row of “The Civil War Bride Quilt”! All I had to do was finish the bird block. So I spruced the birds up with some tail feathers that I thought were rather snazzy, added some solid looking feet and gave each bird a colourful comb!

After I finished stitching each block, I washed it in the sink with hot soapy water to remove all of the starch, glue and even a bit of my own blood! (Note to self…my new scissors are really sharp!) When they were dry, I trimmed the blocks to the correct size. (As a rule, I always cut my blocks 2″-3″ larger than needed.) Believe it or not, the blocks do shrink up a fair amount once they are stitched.

Once they were all trimmed to the correct size, I started stitching them together.

And, finally, I stitched 2 rows together! Spiffy!

Since I had my sewing machine out, I took the time to stitch another block of Barbara Brackman’s “Grandmother’s Choice”. I must confess, I am a not exactly keeping up with the weekly blocks, but I do intend to make a quilt (or two!) with the blocks …and maybe add a few applique blocks. We will see!

Til next time…

Kerry

11Mar2013

Not so fast!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I was so excited! My block was finally finished…or was it? I must admit, all along I thought the vase was missing a little something. And it was! So…here is the “unfinished” block…

….and here is the “finished” block!

I thought I would take a break from the flowers, and leaves and vines. The birds on the next block of the Civil War Bride Quilt were calling my name!

First, I started with some stems and beaks, and what I assume is some sort of fruit. (So far I am not impressed!)

Next, I added some branches and leaves. (Still not impressed!)

Okay, now I see it coming together! All the birds need now are some tail feathers and they are ready for take-off!

Til next time…

Kerry

20Feb2013

A Tasty Block!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Onward and upward! I was eager to start the next block of The Civil War Bride Quilt, so that is what I did! First, I traced the pattern on the background with a Clover water soluble marker. Next, I made some stems using my 1/4″ bias maker, and then, I stitched them in place.

I wanted skinnier stems for the cherries, so I took the stems I made with the bias maker and folded them in half lengthwise. They are really skinny!

Next I added some leaves and a bunch of grapes….

….and then I added the pears, the strawberries and the apples….I started getting a little hungry!

Next, I stitched all of the remaining leaves in place. Jenny can hardly contain her excitement!

I added the cherries and Voila! Another completed block!

For some reason, I was craving fruit salad…so I went to the fridge and dug out a pear, some strawberries, an apple and some grapes. I did not ave any “real” cherries, but I did have some dried cherries.

I added a few pecans and had myself a very healthy snack!

Til next time….

Kerry

16Feb2013

Lots of Leaves!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

The block I am working on from the Civil War Bride had a lot of leaves on it.

Boredom was starting to set in, so thank goodness I had some emergency chocolate stashed away!

I stitched a bit…ate a chocolate…stitched a bit…ate a chocolate…until finally all the leaves and flowers were stitched in place.

I was worried that my pink flower looked a little…well….pale. It seemed to fade into the background.

So I carefully drew around the outer edge with a pink Sharpie marker. Much better, I think!

Til next time…

Kerry

18Dec2012

Another block finished!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

So I finished stitching the remaining tail feathers in place on my Civil War Bride block.

Then I gave the bird’s feet and beak a bit of thought. The pieces were just too tiny and detailed to use cotton fabric to applique. I have a good selection of Ultra-Suede and found a color that I would imagine a bird’s feet and beak to be.

I cut the feet and beak pieces out of freezer paper and ironed it directly onto the Ultra-Suede. I carefully cut the pieces out and stitched them in place. I decided the pieces could use a bit more definition so I very carefully drew around the very edge of the Ultra-Suede with a brown Micron permanent marker.

The right foot has marker on it and the left one doesn’t. Can you see the difference?

And here is the finished block!

Til next time…

Kerry

16Dec2012

Sunday afternoon stitching…

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Sunday Afternoon Applique Group, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

My Christmas baking is finally done!

So that means I have more time for important stuff…like stitching!

My Sunday Afternoon Applique Group met today. We all agreed we should have been shopping/baking/wrapping, but it was sure nice to sit and stitch (and relax!) for a couple of hours with a great group of ladies! I decided to work on the tail feathers of my Civil War Bride block. Long, skinny pieces can be tricky to stitch. Here are a few tips:

Remember, there is no need to fold the seam allowance over if it is going to be covered with another piece. Leave it “raw”.

Begin stitching here…

…and end here.

When I am finished stitching the piece in place, I baste along the raw edge, just inside the seam allowance.

So when I put the next feather in place, the piece I am covering lays nice and flat.

I still have a few feathers to stitch!

I have chosen the fabric for the half-square triangle sashing for my Friends of Baltimore quilt. The fabric is not royal blue or navy blue…just somewhere in between! I am going to start to sew the half-square triangles together, and maybe start to stitch the finished blocks together! So exciting!

Til next time….

Kerry

13Dec2012

Spare time??

Posted in Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Sunday Afternoon Applique Group, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

This time of year, spare time is a rare commodity. But I still managed to find the time to finish this block from Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”.

And here is a close up.

My Sunday Afternoon Group meets the third Sunday of every month so that means we meet this Sunday….already! Every year we begin a new project so I offered to design next year’s quilt. Here is a preview of the first block. They haven’t seen it yet, so mum’s the word!

I am taking the plunge and using my collection of batiks. (I’ve never really used batiks but somehow I ended up with an amazing batik collection!!) So far, I love them! The colours are so vibrant and saturated. The best part is the fabric does not fray. I am now an OFB… Official Fan of Batiks!

I pre-washed every last one of them…

…and Bruin found yet another (!) cat bed!

I have started the next block of The Civil War Bride. First, I stitched some branches and some leaves..

I used every inch of the branch fabric!

The tail feathers have me very intrigued! They seem to fit together like a puzzle. I love puzzles!

And here are the tail feathers just waiting to be stitched!

Til next time…

Kerry

24Nov2012

Stitching the day away!

Posted in Bouquet For a New Day, Civil War Bride Quilt, Hand-Applique Techniques, Hand-Quilting Tools, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

The weatherman was right. We have snow! I love a good snowfall. Especially if I am indoors…quilting!

All that was left to do on the Civil War Bride block was to embroider a few stems.

So now the block is complete!

All of the blocks are on my design wall to keep the inspiration flowing! It is sort of the opposite of “out of sight, out of mind”. (Always in sight, always on my mind!)

The fabrics are chosen and my freezer paper copies are ready for the next block of Civil War Bride quilt. The tail on this bird is made up of 18 (yikes!) feathers!

I can’t think of a better way to spend a snowy day than curling up on the couch, stitching the day away! This block has lots of starts and stops, so it’s a bit time consuming.