The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends to Make + Sew - Interweave

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The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends to Make + Sew - Interweave

I saw this adorable-looking book on the Quilting Daily newsletter this morning, and I'm just totally in love with that yellow peacock. How cute is he? Plus, I can see myself creating Hedwig, from Harry Potter, a special chicken for a certain special friend of mine, and a flamingo for another special friend.

And come on--those crows are just too much! How fun would they be for Halloween decorations?

I'm really tempted!

Stack the Deck Quilt

This is my first attempt at a Stack the Deck quilt. It's a simple design, which I saw in a quilting magazine. I found some fun fabric (Lingerie on the Line by Alexander Henry) and combined it with several colors of coordinating cotton jacquard by Robert Kaufman. I also added several other prints from my stash.

The blocks are constructed first by cutting the final shape you want. Then, you shuffle the fabric, so each block has one of each of your desired fabrics in it. It's easy to do, and you can do all kinds of fun things with this technique. You should check out Karla Alexander's books for more ideas using this technique.

To make the blocks go a little further, I alternated them with full-size blocks of another print. This is the first time I've set a quilt on point, and I love the effect. Upon the advice of one of the sales women at the Cozy Quilt Shop, I added a red border to the top and then followed with a second in blue print. The red really makes the blocks pop, I think. To add interest to the quilt top, I added some red chenille strips to the border as well.

I used no batting for this quilt, and a polka-dot minky for the back. It has very light loft and wonderful drape, perfect for a bed topper. (My bed is a California king size, so this quilt is a bit small, but perfect for a topper.) This is a great technique for putting together a larger quilt, and it's fail-proof for beginners.

Book review: Casting Shadows

Casting Shadows is a great book for beginning quilters who are interested in art quilts or adding dimension to their traditional quilts. Colleen Wise uses plenty of examples in her gallery, which provide the reader for a lot of good reading and inspiration. I can highly recommend this book.
I'm a beginner, and you can see my attempt at her quilt pattern "Emerald City" here. I've used mostly greens and browns for my quilt, giving it a tranquil, peaceful feeling.
In this book, you'll find five full-color quilt patterns, plus an amazing number of techniques that you can use in hers or your own patterns. She includes a 16-page gallery of quilts that showcase these techniques at the end of the book.
The author begins by discussing how color and value can add dimension in quilt construction. She continues in additional embellishment techniques such as painting, appliqué, discharging and others for adding shadows to the surface of your quilt. While many of her designs and patterns seem complex, the pattern I used took one day to piece completely. She uses many strip-piecing techniques that are great for a beginner like me.
Casting Shadows includes some more complex patterns which include circles and curved piecing. I haven't tried these yet, however. I'll be sure to post them here when I do.