Faith Sings Quilt

Well, I finished my first quilt for 2010.  I am calling it my Faith Sings quilt.

bird applique quilt

I like how it turned out.  It was one of those projects that sort of evolved as I went along.

I couldn’t find a pattern that I wanted to cut the background fabric for, so I decided to just make a quilt with it alone, and added some borders.

Then I decided to use a little free pattern I’d photocopied at a local quilt shop for a branch, two birds and some leaves.

bird applique quilt

Once I got going on that path, I remembered the quote I’d put on my Christmas cards for 2008, and decided to embroider it onto the quilt.  I lengthened the branch so there would be room, and embroidered it in brown.

Faith is the bird that feels the light embroidery

I love, love, love this quote.  “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
It was sort of my quote for 2009.  Many times the dawn felt dark, but we tried to sing.  I didn’t sing as much as I should have, but we pressed forward.

At the bottom corner, I embroidered this:

"sing on" embroidered on quilt

Okay, so I realize that it should have been finished in 2009.  I tried, I really tried.  It just didn’t happen, so instead it’s the first completed quilt of 2010.  And I still love the quote, so it’s fine with me.

"Faith is the bird" quilt

Originally I thought this quilt would be for my baby, but with once the embroidery was done I decided it’s mine instead.  If I’d planned for it to be mine, it probably wouldn’t be pink and green, but I like it anyway.

I used a soft minky stripe on the back.  YUM!

back of quilt

Hooray!  One project done, countless to go!  (Could you imagine how bleak life would be without lots of projects to look forward to?)

applique birds on branch

Hope that you’re feeling the light and singing, even if the dawn still feels dark!  Have a great day.

Jennifer

Binding, a find, and a bird

I promised myself that my Christmas gift to myself this year will be to finish up some projects that have been waiting for attention.

So, I stole a few minutes and made my binding for two quilts that I REALLY want to finish (one has been waiting for months!)  I’m excited to get them on the quilts and finish them up.


When I was at the thrift store recently looking for ugly sweaters (what’s with EVERYONE needing an ugly sweater this year?), I found these great little miniature compote dishes for $4.  They stand about 1.5 inches tall and about 2 inches in diameter.  SOOOOO cute!  I can’t wait to find something to do with them!


And finally, my quilt is back from the quilter’s.  This one is a fun combination of three different ideas that sort of happened as I went along.  I’ve been in love with all things birds for a while now, but this is the first quilt I’ve made that includes a bird.


I’ll show more pictures of this quilt when it’s finished.  I’m really happy with it.

I’ll get to work on this ASAP, but first I have to finish (I mean, start!?!) my Christmas shopping.
I think this is the year of lowering our standards so I can impress everybody next year.  Oh well.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Rouenneries by French General

I’ve been waiting to see this fabric for MONTHS.  I’ve been stopping by my local quilt shop WEEKLY since the first week in October to ask the same question:  do you have French General’s line in yet?  And they kept telling me to come back next week.

Then, finally, on Halloween, I walked into the shop and saw this:

Rouenneries by French General on the bolt

Oh my!  “Forget Halloween!”  I thought.  Let’s do some sewing!


So beautiful!  I love the reds, the neutrals…

Rouenneries fat quarters

I seriously stood there, just looking at all of it, unable to decide which prints I liked best or which to purchase some of, for at least 20 minutes.  Finally I just got out my camera, because I couldn’t really decide, and I can’t afford all of it (not to mention the fact that my fabric stash is already too large).

Rouenneries on bolts

The wovens were amazing.  That one above, with the red dots on a neutral, is so classy!
These linens with the birds are also beautiful.

Rouenneries birds

And can I just say that this little dot and stripe pattern near the selvage on each bolt is the cutest thing ever?
What a classy way to introduce yourself to the world of fabric designing!  In case, you’re not familiar with French General, you can visit their website and learn more about Kaari Meng here .  I promise, you’ll love looking at all of the vintage beads, baubles, millinery and so forth that she sells.  Really beautiful.

Rouenneries selvage

I’ve never seen a line of quilting fabric before where I actually wanted a piece of every one.  This time, I’d love some of everything, thank you.

The bummer is, though, that none of the quilt shops near me ordered the print that I liked the most (based on pictures).  It’s an oyster stripe with big bold neutral stripes of equal widths.  I had this project all planned out in my head and it was built around that print, but nobody has it!  Thank goodness for the internet, where at length I was able to locate an obscure quilt shop which has some of it.  (What would I do without the internet?  It makes possible so many treasure hunts that could never happen otherwise.)  When it arrives, I’ll get to work on my project.

In the end, I went home with one of these:

Rouenneries layer cake

A layer cake, which will provide a nice sampling of the beauty.  Something about seeing a stack of fabric bundled up like a fresh pad of paper really gets me.  I’ll sew a simple quilt with it, supplemented by some 1/8 yard pieces of a few wovens which I purchased as well.  With this line, I’m preferring the patterns that let you just look at the fabric, instead of having the prints themselves overwhelmed by the design of the quilt.

There’s also a kit for one of these with my name on it.   So simple, but gorgeous.

Rouenneries quilt

And don’t you think that dotted fabric would make a smart looking one of these?
bella72dpirgb (Large)
I’m thinking I might need to grab one of those patterns and make one, since my current purse is, literally, threadbare.  You can find it at Fig Tree Quilts .  I love their patterns.  Someday I’m going to make this one .  Every couple of months I get the pattern out of my stack and look at it and sigh.

Seriously, everything I’m seeing lately I’m thinking would look lovely with the Rouenneries line and it appears that I’m not alone.  So wherever you are, Kaari, well done.  I love it.

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