Sunday, January 20, 2019

Not So Big Bird

I always try to have appropriate samples for my classes. I've made some giant birds to have on hand because it's easier to show something on a big sample than a little one. I need a sample that's quilted, but I didn't want to make another gigantic bird.

The hardest thing is choosing the right fabrics. I'm a big believer in "auditioning" fabrics. Here are some options for the bird I made.

This one didn't just look right. The colors were OK, but that was it.

 This was the right tone of blue green, but the scale of the print was about the same as the bird breast and didn't seem to have any zip.

This seemed to be too much, and the colors of the beak fabric were too mushy.

 This was the fabric I chose, and I also decided to fussy cut it. The big flower with the stem of blossoms pulled all the colors and shapes of the rest of the bird together.

Once the beak was made, I had  to decide on the legs. The one on the far left was too dark, and the blue on the right just didn't fit, so the solution was the one in the middle.

Here is the finished bird panel. It's 24" tall by 26" wide. Scale is very hard to show. So how big is big?

This "medium sized" big bird is about 3 times bigger than the average bird.

I really like this bird, even the big print I used for the background.


If you would like to make your own flock of birds, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It has everything you need to know to make a bird, even how to make bigger ones.







6 comments:

Nancy J said...

He is a beauty, and I agree, larger is easier.

Mary J said...

I love your birds, this one included❤️

Bambi Pearson said...

Love the colors you chose.

Debbie said...

I love your birds. What is that background fabric, it is wonderful.

O'Quilts said...

Great job...I love your birdy choices

Ann said...

Thanks for walking us through your fabric choices.