Reconsidering

 There's a quote pinned to my design wall. (I've mentioned it before.)

I have been wrestling with the various green backgrounds on the bird blocks. I don't so much mind that the birds have DIFFERENT backgrounds from one block to the other, but some of the birds had several different fabrics in one block and while some of them were OK, others really bugged me.

So I got out the seam ripper and got to work.

I really liked this BIRD, the background, not so much.

So he's all set.

The top part of this bird was OK, the fabrics didn't fight against each other, but the legs were all wrong.

So now this one is all set.

And the dark green triangle near this bird's belly just drove me nuts.

This is much better.

This is a new bird. I made him with a different fabric strip across the top and as soon as I put it on the design wall I took him down and replaced the top strip.

 

I've got three or four birds that will be changing.

I've said it before, we all know when it looks good, or when it's really bad, or just isn't working. It can be that in-between time, when we are not sure, that can be the toughest thing to work out. Generally, I find that if it bugs me, if it nags at me, if I think I should ask somebody about it, that usually means I've got to make a change.

"No matter how far you've gone down the wrong road, turn back," is good advice.

Incidentally, I am now 3/4 done the hand sewing on the binding of the Little Blocks quilt. 

Using Your Fabric

 I have always believed that you should get as much bang for your buck out of your fabric as you can. 

This is the leftover backing from the Little Boxes quilt, and you can see where I have cut wing fabrics for several birds.

Here are the two birds I made from the blues.

Here's a yellow bird,

Here's an orange-y one.

And here's a pinkish one.

I still have three more to do, but I got sidetracked.

If you want to make birds, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

Black & White Harlequin Finished

 

The Black and White Scrap Slab Triangle quilt I am calling Harlequin is finished.

I stitched the binding while watching Father Brown on BritBox. But I must have missed a season or two because Mrs. McCarthy, one of my favorite characters, is no longer on the show.

This is another "green bird" made with scraps (actually ALL my birds are made from scraps). This guy's wing is from the leftover backing of the Little Blocks quilt, which is next up for hand sewing the binding.

This fabric has so many options for birds, and I am probably going to make them all.

There are at least 12 different designs you can make with the Scrap Slab Triangle tutorial. You can get the tutorial here, from my Etsy shop. It's a terrific way to use up your scraps.

Long-Arming

 

My Mom's boyfriend is a retired Electrical Engineer. He is interested in the quilts that I make and was very curious about the long arm quilting machine that quilts them So I brought he and my Mom with me when I brought a quilt to Janet-Lee for quilting. Here they are watching one of the machines at work.

Janet-Lee asked me if we'd like to watch her set up one of my quilts on her machine to see the whole process. Of course I said yes. In the photo above, the backing of my Carnelian quilt has been set up.

Janet-Lee patiently explained every step of the process as she set up the quilt on her machine, wound the bobbins and threaded the machine.

Janet-Lee said once again how my quilts are a pleasure to work with because they are flat and square, the seams on the back are pressed flat and there are no threads popping through the seams on the front. Apparently that is rather rare. "Sometimes I'll put one of Lynne's quilts on the machines when I can't take it anymore," she said to my Mom. 

She explained how she set up the design and told the machine where to start and stop. Naturally there is a lot more than that, which I can't remember, but it was fascinating. Mike was very interested in the mechanics of it, the tension of the thread and what was happening underneath. JL explained it all.

I could have stood there and watched the machine work all day long.

Here's the newest green bird (or bird on a green background). I use a leftover piece from the backing of the Harlequin quilt for the wing. I am also having great fun making white birds. I think I might make a stork or an egret with long legs.  

Hmmm...

Binding & More Green Birds

 

I've added the binding to the black and white Harlequin quilt. It is made from several different black on white prints. Here you can see the backing fabric I selected.

I've folded it over and pinned it all the way around. Now "all" I have to do is hand sew it down.

Here's another bird on a green background. This bird's wing fabric was in a pile of scraps.

The wing fabric for this bird was from the leftover scraps of the backing of the Kangamangus quilt. Yes, of course I fussy cut the wing exactly. If you've got fabric with such a great print it's a shame NOT to use it to get the most out of it.

Quilts Quilted!

 

I picked up three quilts from Janet-Lee. This is the Harlequin quilt. It is going to be mine, so I chose PINK thread for the quilting. I love the quilt design.

This is the Kangamangus quilt. I'm not usually a brown person, but I love this quilt.

This is the Little Blocks quilt. The squares are 4-1/2" square. 

The backing of the Little Boxes quilt has bumblebees on it, so the quilting design has bumblebees in it.

I've made all the bindings for these quilts, so I'll be getting right to work.

You can see photos of the quilts here.

More Green Fabrics & Birds

 

I ordered more green fabrics and here they are along with some of the other greens I've been using.

Whenever I make a lot of birds, I like to have a variety of bird leg possibilities available, so here are the new options.

Here's a red bird with a purple beak.

Here's a green bird. Normally I have a strong contrast between the wing and the breast fabrics, but in some birds, I wanted to push that idea around. Here are two separate fabrics with an orange beak.

When I make a bird quilt with a white background, I can't obviously make white birds. Using a green background meant I could change that. Pretty sure this won't be my only white bird in this quilt.

Here's the backing fabric.

I'll be collecting the Kangamangus, Harlequin and Little Blocks quilts later today from the longarm quilter. You'll see.

This Week's Green Birds

 

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Here are this week's birds. I'm still wrapping my head around using various green backgrounds, but I'm getting over it. I remember something I heard Doreen Speckman say at Houston's Quilt Festival over forty years ago, "Never set yourself up for something you can't or won't do."

Good advice.

I want to give shout outs to two ladies. 

One: my pal Julie, of whom I can never say enough good things. The best friend any person could ask for. We trade ideas freely. Very important that. We offer each other advice, and take what we think fits. It goes both ways. She helps me be a better artist, and I am honored that she says the same. Of course I know how she used the blues in her See Rock City quilt. Quite coincidentally, I was thinking of using extra blocks in that way in the green birds quilt. I knew we were going to get along fine when, on the second day we knew each other, got in a car and drove five hours. If you can do that and not go crazy, and we didn't, then good things will happen.

The second, to my reader "NeverBored." In her comment on my April 14 post, she wrote:

NeverBored

"If you want to make birds (and you really do)"...and I did! I'm here to say Lynne's tutorial is wonderful ! It's easy to follow and stimulates your own creativity. It's so much fun and it is addictive ! I highly recommend it. What better time than now to get started creating your own migratory flock? PS--this was not a paid promotional. I bought the tutorial, made a good sized quilt and can't wait to make more birds

Thanks! I worked hard on the tutorial to make it clear and easy to understand. You can get it here.

Incidentally, I wrote the tute way back in the summer of 2016. I think it went through 20 revisions. When I released it, it was a big hit, which was lovely. Sales tapered off somewhat after the first month. I expected that. I had envisioned it dying a quiet death by the end of the year. The fact that it continues to go strong eight years (and two major updates) later, is a delight.

Thanks to all you bird lovers out there. Go make birds and have some fun with them!

More More Birds on Green

 Nobody ever believes me when I tell them making birds can be addictive. Here are three more birds on green backgrounds and I am playing with different greens as the backgrounds.

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Here's the second one.

Here is the third.

I went to a quilt show yesterday and saw what is quite possibly the best T-Shirt ever. The design was made from rhinestones that glittered.

Made my day it did!

If you want to make birds (and you really do), you can get my tutorial here at my Etsy shop. It'tars an instant download, so you can get started right away.

More Birds on Green

Making birds always makes me happy. I found this bright green background fabric in my scrap bin and I used the border of the Amethyst quilt as the legs of this bird.

Here is another bright bird on a limey-green background. I have been digging through my scrap bins to find limey greens for the backgrounds. I had to fussy cut this one to avoid big purple flowers that got in the way.

Here is another bird with a limey-background, or should I say two. I have to screw up my courage to use the limey greens as interchangeably as WOWs.

Both my bird classes at the Night Owl Quilting Studio have sold out, and there is a waiting list for a class, and that will be scheduled soon. However if you don't live in southern New Hampshire in the US, you can learn to make birds by getting my tutorial at my Etsy shop, here. It's an instant download so you can get started right away.

 

Amethyst is a Flimsy!

 

The purple quilt I have decided to call Amethyst, is now a flimsy. It measures 66" wide by79" tall. The HST's are 3" and the border is about 6" wide. The binding will be the same fabric as the border.

I also made the border for the orange Carnelian quilt. You can see both bindings hanging with all the others, above. 

I should be getting the Little Boxes, Harlequin and Kangamangus quilts back from the long arm quilter later this week. I'm looking forward to finishing them up.