025 - Sea Gull at Sunset

Inspiration

I always give myself the luxury of a second try before deciding something is beyond my ability ... in quilting and in life.   This block is a second try of Judy Dale's bird block, which I made as my Daily Feather #8, but wasn't happy with my effort.

I can't remember if Noah Scalin ever suggests giving yourself a second chance as a project in the book,  365: A Daily Creative Journal ... but don't we all deserve a second chance at something? 

Details

Like Feather #8, this bird block was made from the pattern in  Judy Dale's book, Curves in Motion, however my approach in making it was completely different.  

I created a mirror image version of the drawing, printed it on card stock and cut it up to create templates which I could use to trace the seam lines and all those registration marks for matching the curves onto the back of my fabrics. 


I hand stitched the pieces together. Hand stitching allowed me to see the markings on both sides of the seam as I sewed to make sure everything was perfectly matched.

When I machine stitched the first block, I pinned the entire length of the seam before sewing. When hand-stitching the seams,  I focused on a smaller increment of the seam ahead and only worried about the next pair of registration marks.

It may be hard to see in the photo, but the result is that the hand stitched bird block has no puckers and is perfectly smooth and flat. (Click the image to see the original on Flickr for a closer look.)

008 - Judy's Bird Quilt Block

Inspiration

I recently won a copy of Judy Dale's book, Curves in Motion in a blog giveaway–thanks again, Angie!

Until I was flipping through my prize, I had forgotten about the classic block, The Bird, which served as the class project in the workshops she taught on her technique. What a lovely bit of synchronicity.

As soon as I saw Judy's bird, I knew I would be attempting to make one of these feathered beauties for my 365-Feathers project.

Details

The pieced block measures 8 by 14 inches.

After enlarging the pattern, I used freezer paper to transfer the pieces of Judy's pattern to quilting cottons.

I struggled with the curves and will likely make another bird to see if I can improve my technique.

Below you can see the author's perfect bird and my first attempt.