Out of the Nest in THE QUILTER (August/September 2012)

I am not sure if you remember my cute little birdies, who made their appearance in Nestlings, waiting eagerly for their Mama in their nest last year…

I am excited to announce that a companion sequel piece to “Nestling” is officially featured in The Quilter’s August/September 2012 issue!

This follow-up little wallhanging or door banner is aptly named “Out of the Nest”.  It’s my quilty tribute to all parents out there (including my own) who have worked hard to raise their children to the point where their children are now out of the nest!

[Image source: The Quilter Magazine]

Don’t you think our little birdies here grew up rather nicely? :)

There are other signs of growth too, if you compare “Out of the Nest” with “Nestlings” — the overall palette in “Out of the Nest” is generally a little warmer than that used in “Nestlings.”  The leaves are all green in “Out of the Nest”, and there are even blooms on the tree!  The flowers were made with Clover’s yoyo flower maker.

Applique was machine fusible, using Warm Company’s Steam-A-Seam 2 fusible web.  The appliqued pieces were then finished with blanket stitches.

Even my quilting is partly quilted with a green contrasting thread!  Click here to read a few tips on quilting with contrasting thread.  The feathers you see in this quilt are totally unmarked and free-handed.  I used Aurifil‘s Mako 50 cottong threads for quilting over Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting.

Both Nestlings and Out of the Nest finish at about the same size. I trimmed and squared mine to be exactly the same size.  Click here to purchase a back issue copy of The Quilter for the pattern instructions of Nestlings if you don’t already have it.

I hope you have enjoyed my Out of the Nest door banner!  Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Monday!

Spring Nesting in JUMP-START YOUR QUILTING

It’s sunny over here, and the birds are out there happily singing away. I thought it’s the perfect time to show you my Spring Nesting quilt that’s also featured in the Jump-start Your Quilting book by House of White Birches.

This is a small-ish sort of wallhanging, only about 20″ square. It’s perfect for gift-giving, or be made into a pillow, or incorporated into a tote! And if you are adventurous and ambitious, you can use the block as the center block of a larger medallion quilt.

You can see I quilted feathers on the tree to give an illusion of leaves.

The feather quilting aside, this quilt is actually my “in defense of straight-line quilting” quilt. Sometimes, all the hype giving to the free-form curvy and intricate quilting motifs makes it sound like there’s no place for straight-line quilting. That’s furthest from the truth. I, for one, definitely think that straight-line quilting is as important as feather quilting. If executed appropriately, straight line quilting really adds to the look of a quilt.

For the busy Tweet Tweet fabrics by Moda I have used in this project, I just wanted something clean and simple for the quilting to give the quilt just a bit of predictable and definite texture. Nothing is more definite and predictable than straight lines!

I used YLI silk 100 for the feather quilting on the tree, and my usual Aurifil Mako 50 cotton for the rest of the quilting. Batting is Hobbs Tuscany Silk.

I hope things are warming up for my Northern Hemisphere friends, where you start to enjoy the birds tweet-tweeting in your yard! Have a great weekend. See you again on Monday.

Song of Williamsburg Remix: Part 2

I completed the quilting on the “Song of Williamsburg” remix.  Here are some shots of the front of the wallhanging:

The cotton sateen fabric showcases a foil-embossed look:

The “Song of Williamsburg” Remix has yielded unexpected result, as some had told me that they actually like the back better than the front:

Honestly, I can’t decide which looks better – the front or the back.  I like the “embossed” look of the front, but also like the better contrast of the back.  So, for the first time in my quilting life, I am not going to attach a hanging sleeve or a label on the back (*gasp*) — just so that I can have a reversible wallhanging to go with the original Song of Williamsburg by the stairwell! Now, I am off to attaching the binding to finish this baby up for real!

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Just out of curiosity — what is your vote?  Front or Back?

Song of Williamsburg

The wholecloth-style quilting is one of my favorite kinds of quilting because one could really showcase some dense and beautiful feather quilting motifs.

Now that it’s completed, I am pleased to show you “Song of Williamsburg”. Was this like anything you had imagined when you read Border Smart a few days ago? The quilting motif in the center cotton sateen block is original and was inspired by an 18th century bird bottle found in Colonial America.

The entire quilt is quilted with silk thread. You can see from the closeup shot that I had added some French knots for added interest to the piece.

I wish you a beautiful and blessed day, brightened by bird-ly songs!

p.s. The pattern of the quilting motif will be available for purchase some time next week.