A New Bird!

 

Yes, this bird is made out of wood.

This was made by none other than my friend, The Selvage Fairy. How seriously awesome is this?

I have to say I am not surprised. The Selvage Fairy has made a 3-D stuffed bird. 

She figured out how to make a hummingbird, which I love.

Color me impressed! Great job, Selvage Fairy!

The Little Cousin

 

These birds were made by my friend The Selvage Fairy. She actually lives in the same town that I do. She wrote to me that when she was getting the bird ready to mail, his little cousin jumped into the envelope. TSF told him that he wasn't quite right for this project, but he wanted to come anyway.

The little cousin looks like a hummingbird, and I am thrilled he decided to come along.

I tell folks that my students teach me things, and this is another example of that.

If you would like to contribute to my student bird quilt, I'd be happy to receive your donation. the block should have a mostly light background and be at least 8" square. You can get my bird tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

 

The Selvage Fairy

This is the Selvage Fairy. She keeps an eye on Millie when I travel. She came over before I left to pick up the key and go over what I call "the care and feeding of Millie." After we went through all that stuff, we looked at quilts, because even though you see pictures, they are much different (and much better) in real life.

We looked at a lot of them, and when I unfolded Dark Majesty, the dark diamonds quilt, she said, "I think this is my favorite."

Well.

As we folded up the quilt, I handed it to her. "This should go home with you." The look on her face was priceless. She literally didn't put it down until she walked out the door, and only then to give me a hug.

Quilts should always go to where they are loved.

Inspiration is...

I know I keep going on and on about finding inspiration. But finding out that YOU have given inspiration is even BETTER.

I received a package I was not expecting.  Inside was a note from my friend the Selvage Fairy.

Now, the Selvage Fairy and I have a running joke. She is a tailor who told me once she was afraid of getting into quilting because "everything about it tells me it is as addictive as crack cocaine."

Well, she isnt' wrong about that!  But check out what was in the box...

 .

Are these TOO COOL or what?

Needless to say, these lovely birds found a home among my Holiday decorations right away.

I love these. It is a wonderful gift, but the bigger gift is knowing I inspired my friend, and that she took an idea (she was in the very first bird class I ever taught) and did something with it.

That is the single biggest reason I teach. Because I love to see students use their own creativity.

A Student's Story... Barb

My pal Barb is more of a math person than an art person. She knows all about sewing and tailoring. She told me once that "everything I've read about quilting tells me it is as addictive as crack cocaine," and for that reason, she would never get into it. Alas, she succumbed. She took a class with me at QT a couple of years ago where I taught the birds along with asterisk flowers, wonky hearts and butterflies, and loved it. "This is entirely YOUR fault" she wrote to me later.

She sent me an email on Friday and I want to share it with you.

Hi Lynne,

I wanted to take your birds class in May, but the timing didn't work out. But I did want to make some birds, so I started looking around for a project where they could fit.

Have you ever looked at your kitchen curtain and said, "How did it get to be THAT color?"

Maybe not, but I did.

The window is about six feet across, so I thought that birds marching along would make a cute curtain. I thought I would make a family of birds so I got a piece of fabric I love and fussy cut some wings.

Clark [her husband] says Hi.

I wanted three different sizes of bird, and since I am more of a mathematician than an artist, I made some patterns for the wings, and used the pattern I got from your birds, butterflies, etc class to size everything.

Then I picked some other fabrics to go with the wings, some of them bought on purpose, and some from my stash, plus background fabrics.  OK, enough obsessing, time to make some birds.

Mommy and Daddy Bird.

So, soon I had birds in three sizes. But then one of those things happened and the project took on a life of its own. Momma bird flew up and whispered in my ear. Apparently there was one more child I had missed. We talked about him, and then I made him, and then put it all together. So while the piece was supposed to be named "Flocking Together," it wound up being "A Different Drummer" or "There's One in Every Family."

 I've got a new curtain for my kitchen, and you can tell your students that even an amateur can do it.
 

Oh, and by the way, here's a picture of "the special child."

Did I laugh when I read Barb's email. I think her new curtain is terrific, and I loved her "special child" so much I asked her to make me one.

Thanks for sharing Barb!


***PS Barb often comments on my blog, and her login name is 'the Selvage Fairy.'        

****My bird tutorial, Lynne's Liberated Birds can be found in my Etsy shop, here.

Triangle Twirling

I had hoped that alternating concave and convex blocks of  the curved triangles (like this, above) would create the movement I wanted.

Alas, they did not. While this is moderately pleasing, it isn't exciting enough to float my boat. As my pal the Selvage Fairy said to me once, "It's interesting you think the worst [your design] could possibly be is nice."

But it was the Selvage Fairy who set me on this path of curves in triangles in the first place. She wanted to know what would happen with these blocks if I rearranged them. Dear Selvage Fairy, your request is my command...

So I started tinkering, but this did not float my boat either. This was boring boring boring. Too much been there done that.

However, there was one shape in this photo that I DID like very much.

THIS ONE! I thought THIS had distinct possibilities, so I moved the pieces around again...

By the time I was halfway down, I knew this was THE ONE!

I still have to rearrange the blocks to distribute the colors and patterns a bit better, and I need another vertical column over on the left to complete those dark shapes over there, but this overall layout is it.

I love the optical illusions it creates, the movement, and the sheer unexpectedness of it.

For those of you wondering how it works, this should explain it.

Suggestions Welcome!

While I was working on the Triangle Dance quilt, my pal the Selvage Fairy wondered what would happen if I sliced up the rectangles using a gentle curve instead of a straight line.

 I thought it was a great suggestion, and decided to try it out.
 

Well Hot Diggity! I like it a LOT!!

So I sewed a couple of pairs together, and WOW, the next quilt is going to be called "Triangle Twirl".

I can't wait to get started...


It just goes to show that sometimes an innocent question from somebody else can be a wonderful way to get you going on something new. So when a friend, coworker, family member or passerby makes an offhand comment, pay attention. Sometimes good things can happen!

Yes, I think this definitely has potential. I just sewed a bunch of blocks and threw them up on the design wall. I can already see some things I should avoid, and some things I want to emphasize a bit more, but I think this is going to be fun to play with.

Thank you Selvage Fairy, I am happy to say this is entirely your fault.

Honk Honk. Got Geese?

Last night I made some flying geese triangles and threw them up on the design wall. This is getting closer. I have made a few adjustments since this photo was taken. The fork is out, and I've changed the direction of the two geese just above the "LET THE".  Btw, I have to re-make those letters. They need to be redder. That may happen tonight. There are other small changes that need to be made, but those aren't going to interfere with the grand plan.

My best pal Julie made a suggestion that I have implemented. Kudos to those who see it. It has to do with the word sandwiches. I mention it to tell you all that sometimes very good ideas come from outside yourself. Pay attention! 

The Selvage Fairy put into words yesterday what I knew intuitively but did not know specifically: that the geese flying every which way was like a maze that didn't end until you let the chicken go. Thank you SF!