Dresden Plate Quilting

Today I'm playing around with a Dresden Plate quilt pattern and a package of batik prints!  I have a few ideas on what I'll do with it .... The Dresden Plate pattern was popular in the early part of the 20th century and is a good way to use up scraps.  I'm using this quilting template, but there are lots of tutorials out there that provide patterns.

I'll put up a tutorial when I get a project together!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Friday Inspiration - Bird Quilts

I started looking for inspiration for the bird quilt I'm planning and found several fun ones!

This one from the 10000birds.com website shows the birds off nicely without a lot of pattern and looks like a good way to feature a lot of different birds.  It was made for a baby shower for one of the website contributors.

  
This is the best photograph I could find of a beautiful quilt created by Dorothy Opal Jones.  Each bird is hand painted and includes flowers or foliage as nice backgrounds.

I like the way Janet created this quilt from pieced shapes and still was able to get enough details in that one can tell the species of the bird.  You can see the details on her blog.

And I love the minimalist design of Victoria Gertenbach's bird quilt with the splashes of color and black thread work details.

Now it's off to the drawing board for my quilt!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Birdding

We've been doing a lot of birdding around here lately ... as in seeing how many different types of birds we can find!  Little c has suddenly become a bird watcher after viewing the movie The Big Year.  Yes, not your usual four-year-old movie fare, but she's been fascinated since the first time she saw it - and there have been several more viewings!  It's a very character driven story with no animated princesses or Broadway worthy songs - or songs of any type except for the birds.  She's already planning on doing a big year when she grows up and until then, each day we wander the farm looking for new birds.

Luckily this is a birdder's paradise!  We have a large variety of resident birds in the summer and countless travelers passing through during migration time.  And a nearby pair of golden eagles who make their rounds most days.  One swooped down over me the other day and about scared the bejeebers out of me!

And it looks like I have a new summer project - little c has requested a bird quilt.  I think it should include all the birds she's been learning the names of, but don't quite have a picture of it in my mind yet.  Something new to ponder!

Happy Creating!  Deborah

Crocheted Wave Edging

As you may have noticed, I'm working on quite a few baby projects lately - there's a good reason for that.  In October, our second grandchild is due - a boy!  In my experience, you can never have too many flannel blankets, so a couple of months ago I bought a bunch of nice flannel prints to edge with crochet.  This print reminds me of waves - thus the edging name!  It tends to be a bit tighter of a pattern, so be sure to crochet very loose to prevent the edge from puckering.

If you haven't edged a blanket before, see this post for how to get the foundation row in.

Row 1:  Single crochet in each foundation row stitch.

Row 2:  Single crochet in the first stitch from Row 1, chain two, skip two, and single crochet in the following stitch.  Repeat all around the blanket.  At the corners, you may need to only skip one to get your corners to lie flat.

Row 3:  In the first chain two space, single crochet, half double crochet, two double crochet, half double crochet, and single crochet.  Single crochet in the next chain two space.  Repeat the pattern around the blanket and fasten off.

After working on girl clothes for little c for the last four years, it's a switch to start thinking little boy!  I have some ideas you'll be seeing in the next while .....

Happy Creating!  Deborah