Bluejay
The latest quilting challenge from the LMQG was called the Big Blue Challenge. I have skipped the last couple challenges, so I felt like I should jump in on this one. We each had to draw a traditional block out of the hat and come up with a modern interpretation of that block. I ended up with "Birds in the Air," which is a block made from half square triangles.
I joined the challenge thinking that I'd have soo much time to get it done. The requirements were to make a modern block, 24" square, out of blue and white fabrics. Easy, right?
Well.
I put it off until the last 2 weeks, of course. I got to work sketching, late one night. This is where my design got started. My eye was drawn to the large, dark triangles in the traditional example block. I wanted to make the large triangle the focal point instead of all the small, flying geese units.
Then I looked at my stash of blue fabrics. I was not inspired but I wasn't going to buy more fabric. After pondering how I was going to make the blues work together, I decided to go outside for a break.
I've been finding lots of feathers on my morning walks. I just happen to see them, sticking up in the grass or on the sidewalk. I've been collecting feathers for a few years now and I keep them in a peanut butter jar haha. I'm not sure why I pick them up. They're beautiful, I guess.
As I drank my tea on the patio, I noticed my feather jar and started looking at all the pretty feathers inside. There's grey ones, black ones, brown and white striped ones. And lots of bluejay feathers. A bluejay flew to the birdbath and I noticed all the different blues in it's feathers. Aha! They were the exact colors of blue I had in my stash. That's when I decided to make a bluejay. I love serendipity!
This is the full design I came up with. I only made a small part of it for the challenge, though. I tried to use the modern quilting elements of scale, asymmetry and alternate grid work. I chose to use only solid fabrics in my design as well.
My piece did not come out exactly like my drawing. Once I got into it, I kept playing and rearranging on the design wall. It was somewhat maddening. I had to take lots of photos and many breaks.
The overlapping triangles took some extra brain power. Those points are quarter square triangles. I had to take it slow and really think about color placement before I sewed the block! I was not always successful and had to rip a couple times.
Can you believe that I actually sewed the label into the backing BEFORE I quilted? Wow, it saves so much hand sewing doing it that way. I'm thankful for my friends who remind me of these things. The same friend recommended that I keep the quilting simple, which I did. She also drove me around to take these fun photos! 😊 Thanks Kristie! (Sorry about all the mosquito bites. And the dog poop.)
Bluejay
24" square
Designed and quilted by me
I joined the challenge thinking that I'd have soo much time to get it done. The requirements were to make a modern block, 24" square, out of blue and white fabrics. Easy, right?
Well.
I put it off until the last 2 weeks, of course. I got to work sketching, late one night. This is where my design got started. My eye was drawn to the large, dark triangles in the traditional example block. I wanted to make the large triangle the focal point instead of all the small, flying geese units.
Then I looked at my stash of blue fabrics. I was not inspired but I wasn't going to buy more fabric. After pondering how I was going to make the blues work together, I decided to go outside for a break.
I've been finding lots of feathers on my morning walks. I just happen to see them, sticking up in the grass or on the sidewalk. I've been collecting feathers for a few years now and I keep them in a peanut butter jar haha. I'm not sure why I pick them up. They're beautiful, I guess.
As I drank my tea on the patio, I noticed my feather jar and started looking at all the pretty feathers inside. There's grey ones, black ones, brown and white striped ones. And lots of bluejay feathers. A bluejay flew to the birdbath and I noticed all the different blues in it's feathers. Aha! They were the exact colors of blue I had in my stash. That's when I decided to make a bluejay. I love serendipity!
This is the full design I came up with. I only made a small part of it for the challenge, though. I tried to use the modern quilting elements of scale, asymmetry and alternate grid work. I chose to use only solid fabrics in my design as well.
My piece did not come out exactly like my drawing. Once I got into it, I kept playing and rearranging on the design wall. It was somewhat maddening. I had to take lots of photos and many breaks.
The overlapping triangles took some extra brain power. Those points are quarter square triangles. I had to take it slow and really think about color placement before I sewed the block! I was not always successful and had to rip a couple times.
Can you believe that I actually sewed the label into the backing BEFORE I quilted? Wow, it saves so much hand sewing doing it that way. I'm thankful for my friends who remind me of these things. The same friend recommended that I keep the quilting simple, which I did. She also drove me around to take these fun photos! 😊 Thanks Kristie! (Sorry about all the mosquito bites. And the dog poop.)
Bluejay
24" square
Designed and quilted by me
Yay so great and the photo shoot pics are so great!
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