I LOVE these quilts: put a bird on it!

I grew up in a bird-watching family. When I was quite young, I could identify birds by their calls, their flight profiles, their habits. My parents had feeders up year round & watched them like television. The bird book & the binoculars were always close at hand. So bird-y things make me think of home & family & make me happy.
I haven't done an "I LOVE these quilts" in a while, so I thought I would do a "put a bird on it" edition. I have VERY MANY quilts with birds favorited on Flickr. Embroidered, appliqued, pieced, paper pieced, or just made with bird-printed fabric; realistic, abstract, whimsical, there are many many ways to make quilts that celebrate birds. Here are just a few that I LOVE!

This quilt, an heirloom belonging to Pearlzenith, was one of my earliest Flickr favorites. Her great-grandmother, a woman who preferred science & drawing to needlework, made the quilt. She may not have loved it, but she was clearly quite skilled with her needle. Her whimsical little birds are so adorable & well-made; she must have loved someone -- child? grandchild? -- very much to have made this sweet little quilt. What a treasure!



Another of my early Flickr favorites was made by run amok. Flying Birds made of 1 square & 2 HSTs -- so simple & so effective! I cannot imagine anyone looking at this quilt & not thinking of a swirling flock of birds. Her sky is a mix of blue & neutral solids, she used special vintage kimono fabrics for her birds. I would really love to make my own version of this quilt someday -- imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?!?!



Made by kellymeanix (she blogs at Pinkadot Quilts), this quilt is a charmer. A contemporary appliqued bird block surrounded by what look to be vintage fabrics in a cheery palette of blues & aquas, pinks & reds. And if it weren't bird-y enough, there are little birds & nests ink-stamped onto the white areas. It's little, but makes a big statement & what a great way to use some cherished fabrics!

 

PinkPlease! made this quilt for the MQG Kona Charm Challenge. Cute, chubby little bird shapes were cut from the solid charm squares -- the square without the bird was raw-edge appliqued to one side & the bird without the square was raw-edge appliqued to the other side. Very clever, very modern!



I admit to loving very nearly everything RachaelDaisy (she blogs at Blue Mountain Daisy) makes, but I do have especial favorites. "Oi Emu" is an especial favorite. This quilt was made for Corduroy Appreciation Day (11-11-11) & made wagga-style! Some corduroy trousers, some Aussie screen-printed fabrics, curtain scraps, an emu, a dash of rust & mustard & RachaelDaisy has made another awesome quilt!

I'm still here

Yeah, I'm here -- busy with work & having bad days & slightly better days & longing for time off for some rest & restoration.

I went north for Memorial Day. My brother & I went together to the family cemetery, stopping on the way to have a picnic lunch at a favorite spot of our parents'. The weather was sunny & mild, the country cemetery was pretty & it was very nice going together.

I am sewing some.
Mostly doing what Lynn Roddy Brown calls "mental health sewing" -- just assembling parts. More & more lap & baby quilt tops are getting made for donation -- I'm getting quite a stack! I'm also 'working' on 3 projects for other people: for a friend's birthday, an Irish Chain in shades of green -- simple, but slow-going because the 9-patches are 3 inches finished; Shug's 'birthday' shirt -- yes, the one I began last year -- it remains unfinished (hangs head in shame); & a Jayhawk basketball t-shirt quilt for my MIL, not begun, still in the thinking stage, but it should be fun to do.

I've also got the HMQG challenge with Denyse Schmidt's Florence line. 16 fat eighths. Sounds like a lot of fabric, but really isn't so much. The line made me think of prints from the 1940s, so I'm doing an old-school-ish block & using a muslin-like solid to stretch them. I like the way it is shaping up, I just need to sit down & do some piecing.

I have 4 quilts that I really want to get quilting on: Laura's Lightning -- a bit more than halfway done; I have an awesome back prepped for my Swoon blocks with the Marcia Derse fabrics -- I'm thinking of simple, wavy-line quilting; the little quilt made for the Michael Miller's Madrona Road challenge (I had thought I might give this little quilt to my Mom {sigh}); & my scrappy-trip-along with the cherry-chocolate-y fabrics is ready to sandwich.

But I tire easily, am restless & can't focus for long. So I'm not making any serious progress on any one project.

Going home

My Mom has always been a homebody. She loved her home more than anything. She & my Dad built their house, our home, in the mid-1950s; he lived there until he died in 2003; she lived there until she moved into the nursing home 4 years ago. We had been fearful that her transition out of the house would be difficult, but her mind & body were in such a state that she seemed to forget all about the home she had loved so dearly. Her room in 'memory care' immediately became her home.

When I drove north to visit her this past February, my brother said, for the first time, she was talking about wanting to "go home". We wondered what "home" she meant: her childhood home on the farm? her family home of more than 50 years? where? She wasn't fretful or insistent about it, she would just mention it from time to time then go on with other things.

Well, she's gone home now.

On the 3rd of April, during a very average day, she lay down for a nap from which she did not wake. While her death was not unexpected -- we've been slowly losing her for several years now -- we were very surprised. Her physical health was not great but was stable. We can only suppose that she was just tired & ready to go & the "home" she had been speaking of was not here on Earth.


Spring was just on the brink in the midlands. The forsythia were in bloom, as were the tulip & Bradford pear trees. Daffodils were up & flowering, tulips were up & budding. A warm sunny day or two would bring the redbuds to their full glory.

Missing Mojo

I'm somewhere between malaise & ennui -- mal-ui?, enn-aise? :-/

It's not that I've been idle, I've been pretty busy in the sewing room: 8 tops completed, 9 & 10 are on the design door, 11 & 12 are a stack of parts by my machine.



Most of the completed tops are small nursing home lap quilts & a child's quilt or 2 -- very worthwhile endeavors -- 'de-stashing', taking fabrics I no longer care for & turning them into nice quilts that will warm the body & soul. I've also been working on a mini swap quilt -- sewing for someone else is so valuable, such a learning & growing experience to work in another person's style & colors (in spite of what some people might think).



I've just not been, well, inspired.
I'm trying to stir my coals by looking at looking at antique & vintage quilts, pulling a few of my go-to books from my library, pulling intriguing stacks of fabric. A big pile of beloved indigos might be flying geese or hounds-tooth (hounds-teeth?); my Dad's shirts would go nicely with some recently acquired linens; a variety of long-hoarded fabrics might come together in some sort of medallion; my & my Mom's dresses might come together in a newly learned technique; and then there's .....

Nearly wordless week away

Heading north, I made a stop at Buc-cee's. They have beavers!

I was reminded why I don't have fond memories of snow.

The meals at the nursing home are not always appetizing.

 
After almost a week in one shop or another, I finally got my car back. (Special shout-out to my MIL -- you're the BEST!)

The bedside clock said 4:30 -- stupid daylight savings time, I lost an hour!

Two states down, one really big state to go.

QuiltCon-sumed

 I've had a great weekend!

The inaugural QuiltCon in Austin, Texas!

Just up the road a piece from me, I arrived Thursday afternoon & spent 2 days seeing some great quilts, meeting some great people & eating some great food. I spent time with lots of my fellow HMQG members, bonding with & getting to know better Mona & Anna & Ila, Tammy & Sally & Katie & Gaby & Jacey & Jami, Liz & Pam & Deirdre & Chi, Rebecca & Becca & Becky. I met some bloggers who I admire: Chawne Kimber, Marianne Haak, Sherri Lynn Wood, Deb Rowden, Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

Time flies --

whether you are having fun or not. It just flies.

I am in the midst of about 5 weeks of work, then fun, then family, then more work hectic-ness: learning new software at work (blech, but at least that's over -- for now), QuiltCon -- the fun portion of the schedule, followed by a trip to see my Mom, then a week at work with a charming, but tiring fellow. I'm not finding much time to sew & finding less time to blog. So, a quick rundown of the past week.

Actually, my birthday happened before my last post. Shug got me a pair of RED COWBOY BOOTS!!! A total surprise!!! Very beautiful & they fit like a firm handshake!



We went to Galveston on Tuesday evening -- *Fat* Tuesday evening -- to see Lyle Lovett & Robert Earl Keen at The Grand 1894 Opera House. A lovely, intimate venue & a great show. I got this gorgeous image from @lylelovett's Twitter feed. (I LOVE Lyle Lovett!)

As I mentioned, it was also Mardi Gras. The celebration in Galveston is nothing like that in New Orleans, but we saw a bit of the parade & I managed to grab a bunch of beads. It was a very fun evening. 



I have done some sewing. I finished up my Madrona Road top & moved Pippa off the swoon blocks to set them together. Let's see, they are tops 4 & 5 for the year -- I need to start sandwiching & quilting!





At the February Houston Modern Quilt Guild meeting, I got even more presents! A basket, sweets, thread & book cover from Karrie, an x & + block pouch from Amy & in the mail, a mini pineburr block from nifty quilts! I am feeling loved!!



And lastly, I was invited to join the Fab Little Quilt Swap! I am surprised & pleased & wobbly with fear of failure! I've always enjoyed the swaps we have done in the Guild, so this should be exciting -- & scarey!

The next thing on my agenda: QuiltCon! I'll tell you all about it!