Friday, April 11, 2014

A Friday Finish - Bird Mini Quilt

One month last fall, I can't remember which one, Karen K. Stone (author and quilter) came to our local quilt guild for a speaking engagement and also to teach a workshop. 

Her quilts are fabulous and all original.  I really enjoyed her talk and looking at the quilts she had to show us.  She does a lot of paper piecing, uses embellishments and does a lot of thread painting which I am in awe of.  She hand dies much of the fabric she uses and it was just beautiful.

Her book is wonderful.  The pictures are so great that I think it would make a wonderful coffee table book even if you aren't a quilter.  I love looking at the patterns and pictures.  I couldn't wait to snap up one after her speech was done.  

The workshop day was less impressive.  I'm just biting my tongue to keep myself from typing out all the things I'd like to say but I don't want my blog to come across as mean or snarky - unless I'm trying to be snarky which I'm not.
The online quilting community seems to always be so positive.  I rarely read a negative review about anything be it teachers or notions, books or patterns.  And lets face it, not everything is great.  Not every class you take is going to meet your expectations.  I also try to keep in mind that just because I didn't get what I expected from the class, doesn't mean everyone else was unhappy.

So that's all I'm going to say about that.  Here's my quilty finish that was started in Ms. Stone's workshop.  The pattern is her original pattern.  The outside sawtooth parts are paper pieced and the inside square with the birdie is fussy cut.  Her quilt, that used this pattern, had flowers that had been thread painted in the centers.  It was so lovely.

I ended up making just one block using the workshop material.  I decided to turn it into a mini quilt to hang in my sewing room.  I love the fabric that I used in the quilt - it makes me happy.  

I used it as sort of a practice block for quilting.  I did echo quilting in the center square.  

And free motion quilting on the rest.  I think it was my first free motion quilting project other than the sample sandwiches that I had been practicing with for some time. It's very densely quilted.  I think I was trying to get as much practice in as possible.  lol
 Here is the back.  You can see the echo quilting really well here.  This little quilt has lived in my sewing room for quite some time now because someone had never put the binding on.  Finally, someone - me - did.
 The little mini only measures 11.5 x 11.5 inches.
    The backing fabric is Wordplay from Benartex.  A lot of the fabrics used in the sawtooth paper piecing are from Michael Miller (Mirror Ball dots and the orange swirl), there are some Marblehead fabrics by Ro Gregg and the rest is just random from my stash.  The birdie fabric in the center is a clearance piece of fabric that I found at Hancock's.  I only bought 1 yard of it but I love it and now I'm afraid to use it.  The binding is from the Architextures line by Robert Kaufman.

This was a UFO that I was able to scratch off my 2014 list.  
I hope you liked my little quilt and thanks so much for visiting me at my blog.  Please leave a comment so I know you were here - even if it's just to say hi!
**linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts**

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful and your quilting looks awesome!

    I agree, most of what I read is positive but I have also read some critiques of products/classes as well. I haven't really had anything to critique since I have been blogging, but expect that I will be as honest about my don't likes as I have been with my likes. I think if the overall tone of your blog is positive, having the occasional critique gives credibility, not a negative vibe :)

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    1. Thank you so much Quilt Musings! I try to keep my blog positive but it's hard to know what to say when you do have a bad critique. And honestly, if you take a class you aren't happy with, I think you should be allowed to say it.

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  2. It looks great & it makes me smile! Mine remains a UFO. (Alas, it has way too much company on that side of the room). You have inspired me to use it though... well, eventually, for something.
    BTW, for the record as a fellow workshop participant... I actually learned quite a bit that day.
    I learned the people sitting beside me can teach me just as much as the person leading the workshop- sometimes considerably more. And on that day, the person who was extra patient and taught me to complete that lone block was you.

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    1. Thank you Robyn. You are so sweet and your words so eloquent.

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  3. I agree with your comments and you are a good positive quilter/blogger to keep it that way. Keep up the good work. Your block and the quilting is just beautiful, nice job.

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    1. Thank you Dana! I try to stay positive and really, there is always something good to say even about a negative experience. I learned that from watching Polly Anna about a hundred times :)

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  4. I agree with your comments and you are a good positive quilter/blogger to keep it that way. Keep up the good work. Your block and the quilting is just beautiful, nice job.

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  5. the finished mini looks great, you did a great job. I don't agree with this "everything is perfect and wonderful" attitude that abounds in blogland. If I have a critique, I say it. It may not make me popular, but it's not in my nature to be false.

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Thanks so much for reading my blog and leaving a comment. I read every comment and try to reply to most of them although it may take me a couple of days - I'm a bit slow.