Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Colorful....

 The Goldfinches have changed from their dull gray winter tweeds into their spring tuxedos of bright yellow and black.  A cheery bunch of them are gathered around my sunflower seed feeder and those on the ground are happy to receive the spillings from the top.  It nearly looks like a cluster of golden dandelions on the lawn.  I love their sweet voices, "See Me?"  I taught Hazel Peach their question song yesterday.

 I finished Mary Toodles' colorful quilt last night.  I used the Building Blocks Baby Quilt recipe over at Moda Bake Shop.  Included in my recipe, I used a "Giddy" layer cake and added in a cream and turquoise cotton  for borders and edges. 
 I used some of the leftover strips from the cuttings for the back.  I've  had a Big Foot darning foot for my Viking sewing machine sitting in the drawer for a long time and at long last, I decided to give it a whirl.  This is my first time at free-motion quilting.  It is far from good, let alone perfect, but Mary Toodles won't mind one bit that this was her Gram's practice quilt.  It was fun and very satisfying, but a little hard on my small brain.  I really need to get the hang of the free-motion "puzzle pieces" rather than my "haphazard dinosaurs."  It's like drawing, but moving the paper underneath the pen.  For some neat ideas and designs for free motion quilting, click here. One more thing to add -- I experimented with using adhesive spray between the layers to "baste" the quilt together before I quilted it.  It worked terrifically! Check out the "how to" here.

My friend, Joyce, over at Plain Old Vanilla told me once, "Always, always label your quilts."  
So I did.  
Just a little love note and the year.

I'm entering Mary's Quilt in.....
Amy's Creative Side
Come see all the wonderful quilts by clicking on the button.

14 comments:

  1. Very, very pretty Jody. It's a quilt that Mary will always cherish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE IT! The colors are so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely colors Jody. Such a great idea about labeling...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are such fun colors, Jody! Great Job machine quilting. I'm glad you like spray basting; I know many do, but I make too much mess and end up with sticky fingers trying to adjust things.
    Mary will 'treasure the quilt that has her name on it and was made by her Grammy.

    Joyce

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bravo! Your love quilt is amazing! I love the colors!
    I saw a goldfinch fly through traffic today and I was so happy to see him!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bright and cheery quilt, Jody! What a special keepsake for your girlie. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love that quilt. Free motion is challenging, but I like it. It is one of those things that you have to practice a lot. Having lots of room and making sure that your quilt moves smoothly over the machine is important.

    A lot of the ladies at my quild use the basting spray. I have not,due to the smell, allergies ya know. But they said to do it outside if you can and that helps. They also say to make sure you wash the quilt when you are done with all the quilting. I am sure you already knew that. :)

    ~M~

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jody, wow!! So very pretty! You must be so thrilled with it! I LOVE the colours!

    And those little goldfinches are so sweet!

    Thank you for a lovely post. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a lovely quilt. It is truly amazing and looks great against the beautiful background on the line!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad to see someone else enjoys the Goldfinch too. I love having them at the feeders.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful!! There's nothing like the feel of a homemade quilt - especially one made by your loving granny - such a treasure. And the goldfinches really do look like a patch of daffs - so sweet!
    Blessings,
    G

    ReplyDelete
  12. The colors are so vibrant! Beautiful quilt! : )

    ReplyDelete
  13. You had me at turquoise and red, but had to overachieve with the fantastic back and FMQ. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The goldfinches are so beautiful!!! We have robins that cover our yard like that. And your quilt....just amazing. One day, I am going to make a quilt...it is on my list!

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments. Thanks for stopping in. Sorry, but due to spam, only registered users can comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...