Student Birds!

 I love it when students send me pictures of the quilts they make from my classes and my tutorials. Here are some that I have received lately.

This is Sara K's quilt. A lot of happy birds, clearly chatting with each other.

This is Sue P's quilt, and it includes some applique'd birds. I also love the striped chevron legs.

These are Bea G's birds, in a hanging that hangs in her house.

I am always particularly interested in students who make unique birds and push boundaries. This is the second bird quilt I have seen with a gray background. Here there are big and fat and little birds. I love bright colors and the triangles border.

One of my students described the birds as "bulletproof" and the next quilt really epitomizes that.

This is Ken with his quilt of birds. Now before you think, OMG, those are all wrong, let me stop you right now. This quilt has VERVE! It has JOY! It has PANACHE. It has EXUBERANCE. I think it is just FABULOUS!

A couple of years ago I sat at a dinner table with a teacher who teaches precision piecing. I told her she'd probably have a coronary if she saw how I teach and how I make my own quilts. 

I remembered a word of advice I received when I first started making quilts many years ago. "Always leave the evidence of your hand in your work," I was told. "You never want your work to look like it was made by a machine." 

Afterward I told one of my students (who was sitting beside me that night), that I want my students to be happy when they make quilts. I do not want them to feel inadequate. I want them to be successful with their work, and you can tell by the smile on Ken's face, that he's happy!

If you want to make your own birds, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. I'll show you how to make birds, and I'll tell you how to make them yours! The tutorial is an instant download, so you can get started right away.