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Monday, February 28, 2011

Bluebird Day


About a month or so ago, I joined in on the Single Girl support group (quilt-along). I've always loved Denyse's single girl quilt style and wanted to sew along. I haven't had much of a chance to blog about it up until now so I give you the finished product.

The Bluebird Day Single Girl Quilt.

Bluebird day Single Girl
In skiing or snowboarding, a Bluebird Day is a perfect day, gorgeous sunlight and clear blue skies. If this happens right after a snowfall, it's a bluebird day! That's where this Single Girl Quilt got it's name.

Imagine the blue color of a deep fresh snowbank or the clear glint of the sunlight sparkling through an icicle, that's what I wanted the colors of the quilt to evoke. A perfect day, lots of snow, the hush of the snow between the trees and a little bit of silver sparkle. I used Kona Ash as my background.
Bluebird day Single Girl

After much debate and even a trial run of hand-quilting, I decided to machine quilt it. Hand-quilting was just taking too long and it wasn't really looking the way I wanted it to. So after hand-quilting a few rings, I decided to pull out those stitches and head to the machine. I transferred the quilting lines using a series of plastic templates that I made tracing along the quilting lines from the pattern. It's not perfect, but it'll do.
Bluebird day Single Girl

The Back utilized one of my most fav fabrics ever - this blue chair print from Laurie Wisbrun. Her chair fabrics were the inspirational jumping off point for this quilt. I knew I had to use this print somehow... it has that perfect blue bird shade...
Bluebird day Single Girl back
Isn't this chair fabric perfect?! I love it!

Unlike this quilts namesake, today's weather has been far from perfect. It's been raining buckets and I don't anticipate a break anytime soon. Witness my back patio, that's a lot of water for us when the pond overflows - even in Oregon.
If you're interested, this quilt along is still going on. Katy, Megan and Nova have put together step by step blogposts which are very helpful if you need guidance. They are sweet gals too so go check out their blogs even if you aren't doing the quilt-along.

I've been a bit of a keener on this one and finished up early which is amazing considering how little sewing time I've had in the past month. The Single Girl goes together very quickly and is really super fun once you get going.

Meanwhile, the shoppe destash is still underway. Thanks to many of you, together we've raised over $100 for the American Cancer society. Way to go! I plan to keep the destash up and running until most of it is gone. In the next few weeks I'll be listing lots of knit fabrics for those of you who are interested in sewing with knits, this is your chance! Please keep checking back.

Happy Sewing!

6 comments:

  1. It looks great! I wasn't in a position to join in on the quilt-along this time around, but seeing everyone's lovely quilts has definitely made me want to start one!

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  2. Beautifully done!!! Brilliant even!! I have long admired this quilt, though I did not join the qal for it...alas, it remains on my quilting bucket list...love yours though!!

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  3. That is one of the prettiest versions of that pattern I have seen. Love it.

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  4. I absolutely love yours! I love the colors and it looks great!

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  5. This is gorgeous Caroline! I've been scouring the Single Girl Support Group discussions to glean some advice before jumping in (just got my pattern!). Did you end up doing the paper piecing method (I know Katie at Katie's Modern Nest did)? Just wondering how that went or if you did cut out the templates. Thanks!

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  6. I've never heard of a Bluebird Day! What a perfect name for a perfect quilt! It's stunning! I love the blue with the ash! :)

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