Sunday, November 22, 2015

Puff puff puffins!

This is the 3rd of 4 quilts I quilted recently for a Maine client who happens to live in Florida.  Smart lady!... with winter coming, that is where I want to be, more than words can say.  This was a challenging quilt for me.  Initially I told her it was well suited for an edge-to-edge, but she wanted it custom.  So, I pondered on, and tried to determine how to make these little guys look more like birds.
 It is challenging when the piecing is block-style!  This is what I came up with.  The birds got feathers on their wings.  Not sure if it is visible, but I used a blue-purple variegated Aurifil thread on these and the blue water background.  This particular thread shows up on the deep navy/black of the birds.
 The pieced blocks were sort of a no-brainer.  They just needed quilting in a pretty way, maybe create some secondary patterns, etc. I like these.
Many people don't know what puffins are.  Some that saw a picture of this quilt before it was quilted thought that they were penguins.  Puffins are similar, but they are indiginous to the coast of Maine, as well as outer locales.  I simply tried to give them a little bit of personality - clamshells for body feathers, pebbles for a face and a beak.
 The background (not sure it shows) is just a swirly water quilting.
 Hopefully it is cuter than just an edge-to-edge.  I think so.
 And for those who want to see a puffin, here is a picture from the quilt's backing.
It's a short week, so I can't muddle through too much trouble in only 2 days.   Sadly, though, trouble has a way of finding me anyways.  Life goes on.

Happy Turkey day~

1 comment:

Mary said...

Oh, Margaret, please try to let those troublesome comments be forgotten. I caught things on the tail end, and just want you to know I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with us. The written word can so easily be misconstrued. I hope you have a relaxing holiday and the Maine winter is kind to you this year.