Wednesday, November 15, 2017

A Tale of Birds in the Air - Chapter V - Winging It


A few months ago I started a new Birds in the Air block using my pansy fabrics.  Then I felt a little guilty about that because I already had two different Birds in the Air UFOs.  So I decided to move both UFOs forward and then reward myself with some new start blocks. 

Old Birds (above) is now a top. Or I thought it was. My inspiration came from a quilt in a magazine that was inspired by a vintage quilt. And so this came out at 71 inches square. That's not a very useful size so I'm thinking I'll add a hand-dyed 2 inch border and then a navy 4 inch border - nothing fancy but that will take it up to 83 inches square and although I'm not really fond of square quilts I can live with it and find it more useful than a 71 inch square quilt.  Problem is that I don't think I have enough navy fabric but I haven't really looked. I guess I'll need close to a yard. 




White Bird is also a top now waiting for borders.  This will get a flying geese border. 


While my sewing machine was out for repair I cut a lot of pieces for the Flying Geese and now that I have my machine back I sewed up enough of them for the top border. 


And I now have four more Birds in the Air from pansy themed fabrics to add to the pile for this third quilt.  I don't have a name for it yet but I'm leaning toward something without bird in the title like Thoughts or Remembrance since that is the flower meaning for pansies. Evidently "pansy" comes from the french word "pensee". 


20 comments:

Julierose said...

WOW--how lovely these are reminds me of the song "White bird singing in the dead of night...")
hugs, Julierose

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Oh how I love a navy background! As usual you are inspiring me to start something new. Great progress on your UFOs.

---"Love" said...

That is a gorgeous quilt! To extend your navy border, could you maybe have a few "geese" flying in a straight line at opposite corners and a little further on each of the four sides? Just thinking maybe that would work? ---"Love"

---"Love" said...

Sorry; I meant to say to extend your navy "fabric", so maybe you would have enough navy for the border. (I hit send before proofreading! Duh!) ---"Love"

em's scrapbag said...

All of these are lovely but the navy background is my favorite. So striking.

audrey said...

Both of these look so good! Love the dark background especially. Very bold. I know what you mean about square quilts. Sometimes they just end up that way and it's not going to help the quilt to try and make it rectangle!

Quilting Babcia said...

I'm loving that navy top! Just as is or with added borders, it is going to be spectacular!

Linda said...

So much work, such lovely results. I love the way you start with the same block and create different Quilts. The pansy blocks are great.

gayle said...

I love all your birdies! And that navy background really makes that first group sparkle! (Even if they're square!)

mangozz said...

I really love both of your birds quilt tops, partly because I love blues and purples, but also because of the different arrangements. I can't decide which one I like the best. When I am designing a quilt top, I start with one block and keep making them until the top is big enough. Borders are usually added when I need a bigger top. You seem to work the same way.

Cathy said...

Wow! Both tops are just faaaaaaaabulous! I really love that navy background...

Quilter Kathy said...

Loving your birds series!

Julie in GA said...

Both of your birds tops are absolutely gorgeous! I can't decide which one is my favorite. I love how that navy background sets off the bright colors.

Louise said...

Ooooh, all that navy is making me swoon! I love dark blue as a background. All three of your birdies are looking so good!

Janie said...

You've been productive and you got your sewing machine back, Yey!
I like 'white bird' reminds me of lynyrd skynyrd's song, 'free bird'.

Emily said...

I love how you get such different looks from the same block. These are beautiful!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Very striking tops! Pansy in Japanese is panji ...

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Your Birds in the Air quilt collection is wonderful, Cathy! I really love the one with the navy background, but they are all great. Do you have a certain pattern or tutorial you used to learn the block?

Nicole said...

Both the old WIPs look great, and congrats on progress. I especially love the colour layout on the navy one. Good luck with the borders.

Kaja said...

Like you I'm not so keen on squares, but sometimes that's just how it has to be and Old Birds has that feel and is very striking. I like what's going on with the other two as well and look forward to seeing your pansy blocks all together.