It’s For The Birds

Have you been following the It’s For The Birds Blog Hop? If not you’ve been missing out on a lot of great projects. I always knew there had to be many quilters out there who were just as crazy about birds as I am. Madam Samm has been hosting this hop on Sew We Quilt and Mary of 1 Piece 2-Mary is our cheerleader and general assistant in all bird matters.

My project involves an eagle and carpenter’s star. The eagle is raw edge appliquéd with stitching on the edge and on the inside of the eagle. He is swooping over the star, watching over our country.

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Lots of feathers (of course) and straight line quilting.

The next pictures are a peek at a project in the very early stages on my design wall. Just had to share it anyway since it has birds too. The bluebird will eventually be splashing about in the water and there will be many more goldfinches. Come back another day to see how it’s coming along.

Go visit the other bloggers to see what they have created for today.

http://www.intheboondocks.blogspot.com/
http://mychellem.blogspot.com/
http://www.thimblemouseandspouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.quiltingandsewingarts.com/
http://www.aquiltingsheep.com/
http://tricia-ramblingsofaquilter.blogspot.com/
http://sewmanyyarns.blogspot.com/
http://www.moosestashquilting.blogspot.com/
http://bethstrand.wordpress.com/
http://quiltoo.blogspot.com/
http://teatimecreations.blogspot.ca/
http://secretlystitching.blogspot.gr/

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

First Art Quilt?

What is an art quilt? Is it simply an abstract or pictorial quilt which is not made from a pattern? I really don’t know. I certainly wouldn’t call me an artist. I don’t know the first thing about “art.” I did take a couple of classes involving paint and fabric and learned a bit about light and shadows. But that doesn’t make me an “artist.” So if you know the answer, leave me a comment.

In the meantime, I am going to call this an art quilt. It is tempting to work on this and only post if I am happy with the results, but I’ve been sharing the “not so good” right along with the “good” in my quilting development.

While eating lunch last week, the goldfinches, cardinal, and a bluebird were enjoying the birdbath. I loved the color, the jostling for position, and the way the cardinal and bluebird just stood in the water and dunked their heads and wings. I grabbed my camera, taking 30 or so pics. Now I’m using those pics to make an art quilt.

I decided to start with the birdbath which was sitting slightly off kilter. I printed a pic of the birdbath, then copied it onto a transparency. Using an old portable overhead projector, I enlarged the image on my wall. Then I taped paper up and drew the outline of the birdbath.

I had also used my photo processing program to change the photo using the “contours” artistic effect. That really showed the temperature of the colors and the placement. I used that transparency to help me draw in the areas where the light made changes in the color.

Next I picked out fabrics. Using my drawing, I traced the pieces needed on fusible web. Fused them to the back of the fabrics, cut them out and assembled them on a Teflon sheet. Here’s the result on my design wall. There will be highlights and shadows added with either paint and/or thread later.

Next post will hopefully be the birds.
Thanks for stopping by.

Linda

May Get It Done Challenge

Thankfully, my end of April report is better than March’s. I still didn’t get everything finished but progress means moving forward and I am moving in the right direction.

Here’s April’s goals:
April Get It Done List
1. Drunkerd’s Path. Close enough to call it quilted
2. Wrenly Quilt – Quilt it. Bought backin fabric at Paducah this past week
3. Wm Morris #1 – Create 9 appliqués. still deciding on setting
4. Snow Quilt – Complete half of second panel embroidery. completed

The Drunkerd’s Path is still on the machine because there is a bit more to do. Good thing this was an experiment. Some things work and some don’t. It is much too busy for my tastes but I love the Rainbows thread on the black and the center flower.

I’ll show pictures of the snow embroidery when the panel is finished.

May Goals
1. 1/2 of remaining snow embroidery
2. Wrenly Quilt-quilt it
3. Quilt Queen Bee QOV
4. Finish assembling Quilt of Love
5. MAKE A DECISION on Wm Morris #1 setting and get appliqués done.
6. Birds on Birdbath top made.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Gammill Classic Plus For Sale

This has been a tough decision but I have decided to sell my Gammill. My husband and I anticipate moving to a smaller space and I don’t want to have to deal with everything all at once. So as of today, my Gammill is for sale.

Gammill Classic Plus purchased brand new from dealer in 2006. Comes with all the standard features including Stitch Regulator, Vertical and Horizontal Channel Lock, Attached Bobbin Winder, Variable Speed Control, Laser Light, Double Capacity ‘M’ Style Bobbin, 26” x 10” Throat size, Two Station Needle Positioner with Single Stitch, Low Bobbin Alert, Thread Break Alert, Sit or Stand Adjustment, 12 foot table with batting bar, extended base, clamps, 2 plexiglass plates, Workstation with circles/ovals and service manual.

Also includes (which I purchased extra) Edgerider Wheels, squares/lines disk and flower shapes disk for Workstation, casters, extra bobbin case, zippered leaders. My husband made 2 sets of micro handles (ball type and handlebar type) and installed a bar for the cords to slide easily.

To be sure the machine is in pristine condition for the next owner, I had the local Gammill dealer go over it thoroughly. His service report is 2 pages long. He checked out absolutely everything.

If desired, I will instruct the buyer on how to load a quilt, operation of the machine and helpful hints for success at my home before the machine is disassembled. Also included will be thread, pantographs, and extra bobbins to help new longarmers get started.

I am located in central North Carolina. Price is $10,850.

Contact Linda at sewgratefulquilts@yahoo.com or 910-690-4078

Contact me if you’re interested.
Thanks for stopping by.

Linda

Soufflé for Dessert

I made Greek Yogurt Soufflé for dessert tonight. I got the recipe from Jules Food. This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

We ate dinner first and then dessert. This is what it looked like!

Didn’t look the same but it tasted good.

Thanks for stopping by.

Linda

Custom Quilting

I have 2 customer quilts to show. One is done in batiks and I used the pantograph Feelin Groovy. Why is it in a post titled “Custom Quilting” you say? Because it is every bit as beautiful as the custom quilted quilt. See for yourself.

Pieced by Marilyn. Quilters Dream wool batting (which quilts like a dream).

The custom quilt in pink and brown has log cabin blocks and some other block along with an appliqué center. I greatly prefer custom quilting for appliqué but the pieced blocks would be great with or without it. So a compromise is to do a freehand overall on the pieced area (meandering hooked feathers in this case) and McTavishing around the appliqué after stitching in the ditch around The applique. The skinny border was SID and the larger border was quilted with hooked feather vine.

Pieced by Lynette. Hobbs 80/20 batting.

Two more lovely quilts on their way back to their owners.

Thanks for stopping by.

Linda

Drunkard’s Path Experiment

This quilt was from a class taught by a Guild member. I was interested in learning how to put a flange in a drunkards path block and Mary did a great job of teaching us how to do that. Through the process, I kept thinking I ought to make a plastic template instead of using the file folder template. Every time I used the paper template, the curve changed. But I didn’t stop and take the time to make a new one. The result is an interesting quilt with poor piecing. Lesson learned!!!

I decided to use this “canvas” to experiment with design and thread. I am really afraid of not matching my thread color to the fabric color. I used a motif from 4000 Flower & Plant Motifs by Graham Leslie McCallum. Since these are not continuous line designs, I had to modify the design and still, there are several stops and starts.

I love the flower. The thread is Rainbows variegated with Sew Fine in the bobbin. I used Saral transfer paper to get the design on the quilt.

I need a customer quilt finished by Tuesday, so mine comes off the machine for now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Linda