Flight of Fancy

Thank you Anita!  You have named this quilt.  "Flight of Fancy" it is! 

Here's the flimsy on the front porch railing. I had to get it outside, even if there was a bit of snow on the ground.

In this photo you can see the different WOWs in the quilt, and all the extra pieces I used to put the blocks together. I really like the way the dense, strongly patterned WOWs add an extra punch to the quilt.

I'm also happy to announce I'll be teaching an All Birds class at Quilted Threads on Saturday May 14th. Each student will make at least three birds, one of which will point to the right. We'll talk about the variations that can make a bird unique: the size and shape of the beak, the length of the legs, and the size of the breast. This doesn't even take into account the use of fabrics, which is really the thing that makes the biggest impact.

I've decided that this quilt will be the quilt that lives on the back of my charcoal gray couch in the summer.  Whee!!



So what am I going to do next? A Slashed Squares for my dining room table.

The Birds are a Flimsy!

So you think your long row of blocks is straight, right?

 

Think again.

This is why I have a long metal ruler that's as tall as I am.

Almost the last seam.

Here is the finished flimsy. Now I need a name for it. Office Chatter, Birds of a Feather.. I dunno. I'll figure it out eventually.

Piecing the Bird Flimsy

There's really no magic, no tricks, and no shortcuts to sewing these together. It's a one step at a time, one block at a time, one seam at a time process. These three birds above easily fit into one "panel."

Photographing this panel on my ironing table highlights the different WOWs I've added to fill in the spaces and make to make the bird blocks fit together the way I want them to.  Regular readers know I use different WOWs interchangeably throughout my quilts. 

 

Things don't always fit neatly into rows, however, and sometimes I have to fiddle. The WOW square above the bird with the dragonfly wing, above, is an example. In order to have the birds on different levels, I have to tinker. It's sewing into a corner, really, or a Y seam. I never sew into a corner, but I don't mind sewing my way OUT of one. Here, I've sewn the square to the block with the purple winged bird, then sewn that panel to the panel in the photograph above. I'll sew another row of birds to the top of the piece above, then I'll sew another panel into the corner they create.

 

Now I'll sew the two panels together that line up above the purple winged bird.

Like this. Then I'll press the seam, and then finish sewing the seam the attaches the sections together.

The finished large panel is the one on the left. I'll go through the same process to add panels to the two panels above.

This row of birds will go to the far left of the quilt (after the top edge is trimmed straight).

My students always ask which way they should press seams over. They assume I want them to press toward the dark fabric. That isn't always possible. My rule?? "Press whichever way minimizes bulky seams." You can't really tell in this photo, but that top row has more birds out to the far left.

Next I sewed the top two panels together, above, and finally, the horizontal seam that unites them.

I suppose it's hard to tell in this photo, but this is the top third of the birds quilt all sewn together.

Is it hard? No. Is it tricky? Not really. The most important thing is that each panel must lie perfectly flat, and each must be perfectly square, by which I mean the edges must be straight, and each corner must be 90 degrees exactly. And, of course, you have to be able to sew a consistent 1/4" seam every single time.

How much time did this take?

Probably six to eight hours.

Is it worth it?

Hell yes.

Revised Layout

I got home from work and didn't like the way the layout looked. The birds were too lined up into what looked like rows, so I moved a lot of things around, and I really like this a lot better than yesterday's layout. 

I knew it would be tricky to sew together, so I printed it out and tried to work out how to sew it together. The boxes scribbled in gray are the extra WOW pieces I need to add, and the dark lines are the blocks I will construct. Then I'll sew it together. Somehow.  Of course, there will be minor changes and adjustments

Chit Chat Chatter

Whenever you get a bunch of birds together, they talk.

In the photo above, you can see the blocks are arranged in such a way I can get the birds close together to look like they're "talking" but I can't sew them together this way. These are just stacked with some blocks overlapping others. It would be WAY TOO COMPLICATED to sew them together like this. 

 

So at first I arranged them in vertical rows. BO-ring!!! See how all the legs make your eye connect them into big vertical lines? Nope. Ain't gonna happen. That is NOT what I want to catch your eye. 

Perhaps I should arrange them as if they WERE talking to each other?

After an hour of playing I had this. I have arranged it with groups of birds talking, or getting really friendly, or ignoring each other. Having already given the birds stories made it easier, although I didn't really hold true to many of them. I've got three married couples in there, and one dating couple. Some coworker drama is going on too. There are at least three kids in there with their parents and one pair that absolutely won't talk to each other. There's another pair that is displaying perhaps too much affection in public. (Can you figure out which pair that is?)

Remember I had to arrange the blocks so I could work out how to sew them together into larger pieces (or what I call "panels") to sew them together without making myself crazy. When I got to this point I sat down and really looked at it. Did I have to many birds lined up facing the same way? Were they too much in a straight line? Had I evenly distributed the birds by color? Did I have too many dark ones grouped together?

I'd get up and move two birds, then sit back down and look some more. I moved another pair, and sat down and looked some more. I moved a few birds up and down.

Another half an hour later, I thought it looked good.  This could be it, and I will continue to look at it for a few more days to see if it needs anything more, then I'll start sewing it up. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Now it needs a title. Suggestions most welcome!

The Last Bird

To whoever wanted to know how many birds I was making the answer is: I have no idea, nor do I care. When the design wall gets close to full, I'll take them down and start playing with them. The layouts will determine whether I need more birds or if I have too many. I don't even know how many I've made, but

I think it's enough for now.

It's time to start playing.

Another Trio

These first two were inspired by the fabrics.

I don't have stories for them. Suggestions wanted!

This bird could be my brother, the fine furniture maker. He has a closet full of plaid shirts.

I'm getting down to the wire, as it were. I only need three or four more birds and I'll be ready to start laying them out.

Pretty In Pink

This pretty  pink bird was too pretty to have black legs, so I gave her pink ones.



I'm getting a root canal today.

Yuk.

A Gentleman (Bird) & A Lady (Bird)

 This could be an elderly gent who loves to work on the "curb appeal" of his home. I mean, nest.

And this would be his neighbor down the street who loves lots of color in her garden.

Hmm...  I wonder...
(Do you wonder the same thing as me?)

The Gardener

This bird is all about gardening. All the fabrics in this bird are food-related.


It's also the time of year to start planning my own garden. This year I'm going to try to extend the vegetable garden and I hope to clear out the overgrowth behind the house.

Black Bird, Black Bird

I really like this almost all black and white bird. I found the beak fabric in one of my little scrap bins.

This suave and sophisticated black and gold bird is ready for an evening at the Opera.




This is post number 1800.  Wow. I've been blogging since 2008. 

Trio

This trio of birds were all inspired by the fabrics I used for the wings.

This is a Tula Pink fabric, and was screaming to be a wing.

I've had this batik blue and white fabric for at least seven years. It's hard to use unless you have the right place for it. This wing is certainly the right place. I kept this bird all monochromatic blue.

This green fabric was a bit brassier and bolder than I expected it would be. I thought it would be a slightly warm middle green, but it's really bluer. The shape of the wing is echoed in the print on the breast and the bright beak seemed like a good fit.

I don't have stories for these. Perhaps somebody would be willing to share their bird interpretations?

Peep Peep Peep

I know all about this bird. Are my clues enough for you to be able to figure out what this bird is really like?

Cat Bird

This is for a friend of Millie's, Miss Poppy Q, who is a Russian British Blue cat that lives in New Zealand. She asked me to make a bird for her.