Recycling Feathered Friends (Spokane, WA)

There is a tall tree right outside our motorhome's door with a nest that looks like it is made of fuzzy feathers.  For the past week, the Western Kingbird couple has been building the nest.  They have been quite entertaining while I am sitting outside with the cats.  

Western Kingbird

 Squirrels find out the hard way that the birds do not want any visitors in their tree.  I have seen them chase two squirrels away and I'm pretty sure there are no eggs yet since they are still working on perfecting their little nest.

Oh, and speaking of the nest...it is made of lint from the dryer's vent!  I found a piece of lint on the ground under the nest and thought...maybe I should get a closer look at that nest.  Sure enough!  It is lint.  This baby bird is going to have one safe and cozy nest to grow up in.

I read this quote online a while back.  I liked what she said and decided to keep it.  I just found it again in my documents.  I tried the link and it is no longer available so I will just share what I saved that day.

Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this earth. ~ Melanie Driscoll, Director of bird conservation for the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Flyway

On The Cutting Board
Whoo Hoo! The "Let Freedom Ring" wall hanging sold within 24 hours!  Thank you!!!

So, I decided I wasn't quite done putting together the quilt kits.  I dragged out all my material and put together a bunch of wall hangings. I have four 4th of the July wall hangings by Nancy Halvorsen and one tea party theme by Urban Threads. Urban Threads has unique designs in machine and hand embroidery patterns. I have ordered a few and have way too many favorites!

I slipped in the snowball/penguin quilt too.  I just love the penguin material!

There is still time to vote at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I want to thank my friends and family for voting for me.  Much appreciated! 

Okay, back to the piles of fabrics and making more wall hangings.....or mug rugs....oh, and I have to cut some more fabric from my scrap bags......

Happy Quilting!

Blogger's Quilt Festival (NE Oregon)

I am entering Cuddly Critters into the Baby Quilt category in the Blogger's Quilt Festival held and hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  Thank you Amy for hosting this festival.

My husband and I retired in 2009, sold our house, and have been traveling in our motorhome with four cats.  I still manage to get in some quilting time.

Thanks to the internet and emails, I am able to keep up with all my friends and co-workers.  This includes my one and only student intern.  Recently, she sent me the good news that she and her husband were expecting their first child.  I knew the exact quilt I wanted to make for their little one. 

42x42 inches

This pattern is a perfect cuddly quilt for her baby with four little critters hugging stars. Actually, the name in the magazine is "Starbear Friends", but I like Cuddly Critters better.

All the embroidery and appliqué is done by hand.

close-up of kitty's eye

Ready for the quilt. 

It is a challenge to live and travel full-time in our motorhome.  Space is limited, so the quilt moved around the motorhome as it progressed.  From the dining room table...

The Hugs Squad shift change

....to outside...especially when there is a lovely view on a gorgeous day.

...to our front window on a folding table....Nothing gets between me and my quilting!

   

Here are some close-ups of all four Cuddly Critters.....

bear

dog

raccoon

cat

and one of the waiting couple!  Such a sweet family photo!  Thanks you two ~ for letting me post your picture.  I cannot wait to see photos of  the little one.  hint! hint!

Baby due mid-May....about now

Want to see some more beautiful quilts?  Please click on the link below.  Thanks for stopping by!  If you leave a comment, I will be happy to return the favor.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

So, if you will excuse me, I am off to do some blog hopping!
Happy Quilting!

Blogger's Quilt Festival (Spokane, WA)

It's time for Blogger's Quilt Festival!  This is my second time participating in this wonderful event hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  Thank you Amy!  I love visiting quilters from around the world it is so inspiring to see their beautiful creations.  

This is my Delightfully Dizzy quilt.  I won a gift certificate from Amy's last Blogger's Quilt Festival.  The gift certificate was for The Quilted Fish.  The shop had some great designer fabric that I have never used before, but decided to try something new.   

I have to admit that when the Delighted! fabric by Riley Blake arrived, I was feeling outside my comfort zone.  The more I arranged and re-arranged the two packages of 10" squares, the more I like them.  I decided to use Cake Mix pattern from Layer Cake Recipe.  

I found matching green fabric for the border and backing.   The blocks had to be made smaller than the pattern's original block size.  I had just enough for five blocks across and seven blocks down.  Perfect for a small lap-size quilt.

36 x 48 inches

As the quilt came together, the fabric took on a life of its own.  I not only found it delightful, but cheerfully dizzy as the colors and patterns swirled together.  Hence the name Delightfully Dizzy!

I had to add some kind of appliqué before I sandwiched the layers.  I knew I wanted to mimic the flowers without actually duplicating them.  I was quite happy when I found an old appliqué design from one of my Baltimore Album pattern books.  Funny how something from an older design can fit so well with a new design fabric.

This quilt started out as a challenge and ended up being so much fun.  I have a feeling I will be challenging myself again with fabric outside my comfort zone.

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you found my quilt delightful, but not too dizzy!

Happy Quilting!

I Can't Believe I Won!

And the winner is......ME?

Remember in October, I entered one of my quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival?

Well, I won a prize!  With over 600 entries, I really did not think I would win any of the giveaways. (and I'm still visiting the other quilt sites) So, now I have a new project.  This isn't the kind of fabric I would pick out for myself.  I'm more into the novelty, hand-dyed Batiks, or southwest, but I'm starting to like this design fabric.

2 packs of 10-inch "Delighted!" squares by Riley Blake 

21 squares in each pack

What to do with these 10-inch squares....hmmm, I'll have to get back to you on this project.  This is a good challenge for me and I do have a couple of ideas.

Wet Feather Woes

It rained most of Thursday night and part of Friday.  We could use more, but we will take what we can get, right?

I never gave much thought to the wild birds until I started watching this little one trying to clean and dry its feathers.

Boy! Am I wet!

Let's see if fluffing out the feathers will dry me out..

Okay, maybe cleaning them will work...

Not fast enough - let's shake some feathers........

and don't forget the tail...

Oops! forgot to air out this wing

Wait!  was that a raindrop?

Well, I guess I'll wait until the sun comes out.....

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Today, I have entered my quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  Thanks Amy for hosting this festival.  I am often the viewer, but this time I want to share my favorite quilt..If you have a little time, please click on the link below.  There are some fantastic quilters and beautiful quilts participating in this virtual quilt show!

I picked this quilt because it had a very unusual start.  Most of my quilts start with the fabric or a pattern, but this one started with a photo and became the most fun quilt I have ever made.

We were staying in Camp Lejuene's campground near the beach.  There were "Seashells" marked on a map as squares on the beach.  Curious, we took a walk and found these lovely pastel picnic shelters.  I love the colors so much that I had to dig through my stash to see if I could match them.

Camp Lejeune's Seashells

I'm attracted to bold and primary colors so I was amazed to find these sitting in my stash.  Surprised to see them and actually liking them, I decided to make a quilt.

Using a simple pattern, the top started looking more like a cluster of flowers instead of reminding me of the beach.

Now I am not very talented when it comes to drawing so I like to use books or clipart.  I have a book with some amazing Art Nouveau free clipart.

  I love doing turn-under appliqué, so I picked out a butterfly and a flower patterns.  I find using batiks are very forgiving and easy to manipulate.  I picked colors that would blend into the background and yet I wanted it to look like one flower standing out from the rest.

Close-up of hand-stitching

I challenged myself by making this the largest appliqué project I have done.  I had so much fun with this one that I want to do another.  I'm on the lookout for another photo to inspire me and I'm keeping a few appliqué projects in mind.

 Thanks for stopping by! Happy Quilting!

Size: 49.75 x 40 (126.36 x 101.6 cm)

Quilting: Free form meandering on sewing machine
 
Butterfly and flower from "The Complete Book of ART NOUVEAU DESIGNS"