7/22/18

A Bird in the Hand

How many bird idioms do you suppose I can invoke while I'm quilting Working for Peanuts? Shall we have some kind of a contest? In this case, it's kind of like "A bird in the hand, is better than a bird that wins a ribbon at the state fair." I never actually start a quilt thinking it might win a ribbon, but I always hold out for the possibility. This one is never going to be one of those, but it's going to do some heavy-lifting as a piece for learning. Let me explain.

Yesterday's activities included quilting, quilting, and more quilting, interspersed with trips back and forth to the washer and dryer. The laundry is finished; the quilting isn't. Still, I'm making some good progress. My first task yesterday was to quilt the beak of the bird, and for that I wanted a straight black thread. This one was in my collection and so I used that.


But, hey, take a look at where YLI thread is made...Rock Hill, SC. Really? That's where my brother's wife was from, and it's where they got married. So, I looked it up, and sure enough. You can read the history of YLI, which started out in California, but ended up in a renovated textile mill in Rock Hill, tripling its manufacturing and warehouse space. According to its website, YLI’s 100% long staple cotton products are purchased from Egypt, dyed in North Carolina, Georgia or Japan, and then finished, wound, and packaged in South Carolina. Huh. Well, f*ck a duck. Kind of makes me feel like I have a piece of the action when I've been to the actual place.

So, pardon my tangential brain. Here's the beak:


I made a little circle around the eye and then headed off in a back and forth motion for the beak. Nothing fancy there.

So then I was ready to move on to the legs and feet. I'd already selected this one from Coats & Clark's Star variegated collection. I first saw these in a quilt magazine, and I loved the colors so much that I bought a whole bunch of them. Now, I don't think they're making it any more, which is kind of a shame. In any case, their colors seem to have numbers rather than names.


Before I put it on the quilt, I wanted to see the full spectrum of colors so I didn't get any surprises.


And that looked pretty good to me, so I went ahead with some "talons" on the feet,


and then just some more curved back and forth action on the legs.


For the perch, I just picked one of my "Essentials" threads from Connecting Threads. I really love their threads for the range of colors and the price. It's true they are a little fuzzier than some of the higher-priced threads, but it has never bothered me. I just clean the fuzz from the machine more often.


And then I quilted the perch with more back and forth action.


Next, I was ready to start quilting the background. For that, I selected a "natural" white. I like this color. It's a white white without being too bright.


So I've been looking and looking at some sort of floral meandering design, but really not found anything I thought was quite right. What I really wanted was a design that looked like the fabric itself. Then, I got the bright idea to just use the fabric as my guide. And so I stitched inside and around the flowers.


And did something a la McTavishing where there were echoing lines.


There's enough busy-ness in the fabric that the transitions aren't obvious, and I can just kind of move from one to another without seeing any abrupt changes. I might go back and do some stitching inside the smaller flowers.



When I'd quilted to the left and above the bird, I called it quits for the day.


Not bad, eh?

And now, let's "flip the bird" and see the back.


Oy...can you see that bearding? And it's not just bearding, it's tension problems. Despite my efforts at keeping my tension correct, I'm afraid I haven't done a very good job.

So, here, I could have thrown myself on the floor, toddler-style, and had a little tantrum, or I could change my goals for this quilt. Suddenly, I realized what a great opportunity this presents for experimentation. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a feather aficionado, but I'd like to try some of the fancy stitching like that on the cover of Patsy Thompson's book.


I could see using different colors to quilt the border and this would be a great opportunity to experiment. And that made me kind of excited to try. This is the first "Ruth McDowell/Ann Shaw" type quilt that I've designed completely on my own without instructor input, and so it's not going to be my best effort. At least I hope not. But it's a place to start and learn, and that's worth quite a lot. Besides, it's a wall-hanging. If anybody lifts up the corner to take a look at the back, I'll smack their hands into next week. Good grief, you wouldn't look under a woman's dress would you? What's going on behind the quilt is nobody's business. I'm so glad we've come to an understanding about this.

So, then I went in search of Miss Sadie, who was still outside. It was time for her to come in. Usually when I call her, she comes running, lickety-split. Yesterday, I walked all the way around the house to find her sleeping in the little cat house inside her catio. The catio door was still open, but she didn't twitch a whisker when I closed and latched it for the day. I took this picture through the mesh walls of the catio so I wouldn't disturb her slumber.


Later, she grew bold and jumped onto Smitty's top rung of the kitty tree when he wasn't there to guard it.


Here he comes, Missy. You might want to get down from there.


Whoa...that was something...I love a good walk on the wild side every now and then.


Phew...my little heart is racing at the excitement of it. It's almost like that note I received from Buddy yesterday when he signed off with "Lovin' Licks." It was a little forward, but hey...have you seen the fursique of that cat? Or is he a whale? Or a pony? I can't tell.


Do you think he noticed my white whisker of shame? It's from doing too much catnip while we were camping last week. Maybe Buddy likes the "bad girls." Did you know I used to be a street walker cat? And I even had some kittens who were taken into purrtective custody when I was rescued from a life of...oh, let's just not talk about it. It's usually not a good idea to dwell on past transgressions. 


But have you ever noticed Smitty's whiskers?


Yep. All white. That cat does wayyyyyy too much nip. It's a good look on him, but I have to be more careful. White whiskers on a black cat could make me look like the Cat Bride of Frankenstein, or something. But maybe Buddy would like that. Hmmmmmmm.

So this morning Mike and I are going to pick some more cherries. Also, he's been working hard to get our old fifth wheel ready to sell. He's requested my assistance there, and so I suppose I'll comply. He was a pretty good nurse while I was sick. Hopefully, I'll get some time for quilting later this afternoon.

12 comments:

Frog Quilter said...

Such a cute post. Love the kitties and especially the whiskers.

Keep playing with the free motion quilting. You actually DO get better with practice. I'm Still practicing after all these years!

Brown Family said...

I always forget which way to put the batting! Scrim up or down! I do not think the bearding is that bad. Can't wait to see your net feathers!

Sadie, Kirby and Angel and black and white. Their faces are all black and they both have all white whiskers. Well, Almost! Angel has one that is all black. Do you think that is what happens to white whiskers when you do too much nip?

Sandra W said...

Your bird looks great.And thanks for the info on the right side of batting. I think I've made this mistake as well. I would buy some colorful markers (wash proof) and color in the threads and batting on the back. I'd still put it in a show so that others can see it. Just don't read the judges comments if you're convinced it's that bad.
I'd still get a tetanus shot in 10 years. Just plan to be sick. Dying from tetanus is not a nice way to go.

Cathy Smith said...

STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP! That bird looks great! As far as the back? BFD! Appreciate what you have accomplished. This is my pet peeve about ALL of us quilters - we are too fast to point out what went wrong (we think) vs. what is wonderful about our quilts. So, stop it sis!

Denise :) said...

I think your bird is quite dapper...it's a really cool piece!! :)

Connie said...

Hello Barbara, I am so happy to meet you. I'm a first time visitor to your delightful blog and now a follower as well. You are an inspiration. I have been going through several of your past posts and they make me want to spread my wings a bit more. I have been stuck quilting with only white thread . . . boring, right? There are somethings in life that I just jump right into and some that I sit on the bench and just wait to see others give it a try first. Blogging has been a way to share my creations, but more so to see what others are doing and give new things a try.
I am delighted to have found you and hope that you will visit my blog and find it even half as interesting.
Have a sweet day.
Connie :)

quiltzyx said...

The quilting is looking SAHWEEEET! As far as the bearding, I've been told that you can spritz them with water & they will suck back inside when they dry. Worth a try, right?

I see Sadie has a bit of a crush on Buddy - now he has a whole series of Sadie pawtraits to drool over. :)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Sometimes those little pieces are great for play and experimenting on. Your little burps on the back just don't fluff my feathers, so relax and enjoy. Me thinks there may be a double wedding in the kitty future? Purfect matches!

Quilting gram211 said...

I just have to say(again) how much I enjoy your posts. Your bird is looking quite fetching! Don’t worry about the back,most of us would not lift it up to see the back. It really does not look bad at all. I like your attitude of it being a learning project. I sometimes feel that all my project are learning opportunities which I guess is how it should be.

Sally Trude said...

The front is fantastic. I love how you used the feathers for the feathers. As for the back, you could always attach a large strategic label.

piecefulwendy said...

They won't peek under the quilt; they'll be too dazzled by its front! You are doing a great job! Sadie made me chuckle. I don't know what Buddy looks like, but now I'm curious. She's a tease!

Kate said...

You've made a lot of progress. Sorry about the tension problems. Hopefully you it won't be too painful to fix. A nap inside the catio sounds nice, I definitely wanted one yesterday afternoon, but they kinda frown on naps at work.