Pine needles and thorns for palm fronds for Cardinal vignettes

Thought you'd like to see a close-up of how I thread painted the pine needles and the thorns on the limbs of the palm fronds. Both are done with a zigzag stitch set at the widest stitch it is possible to use on your machine. Lower the feed dogs and as the zigzag stitch is being made gently move the project under the presser foot to create the look of the needles and the thorns. Keep fingers out of the way! Wow, it hurts when you stitch through your finger....(known from experience!

Finished vignettes of Cardinal

Here is my finished vignette of the Cardinal in the Pine Tree for NC or Florida.....they do have pine trees in north Florida:)
and my Cardinal in the Palm Frond for the Florida folks:)
Close ups will follow, next week showing the thread painting a little better!

Visuals for beginning the Amazing Birds Project

Step by Step directions for making the bird vignettes.
Beginning Amazing Birds Project:

Choose the pattern that you wish to use for your first bird vignette. Print it off the blog (How to in archives May 10, 2010.)
If you don't have a light box, you need to get one. It is the greatest gadget to use for appliqué. They carry them at most fabric stores or you can order them from one of the quilting catalogs available online. I use the small light box as I have no need of the larger one.
As you can see, I have chosen to make the Cardinal in the palm fronds for my first vignette. The Cardinal in the pine tree is also very pretty and should be done the very same way as described here. My fabric is cut 13" X 12" to allow a little extra to cut off when finished quilting.
1. Place the pattern on the light box with the sky blue fabric on top.
2. Trace the pattern with a #2 pencil or a pen that disappears with water.
3. Iron a removable fusible onto wrong side of red fabric. Trace cardinal with white marking pen or disappearing mark pen. Be sure to trace the whole tail, as you will do thread painting over it for the limb that it is sitting on.
4. Cut out cardinal and fuse to sky fabric.

Threadpainting is such fun! Use the directions from archives for May 10, 2010 for learning how to "Print from the blog" to print off the pattern for the CARDINAL IN A PINE TREE!Also, in the archives, find "How to do Freezer Paper Applique" Jan. 25, 2010. This is large enough to make a nice small wall hanging. Follow directions given in the newspaper,if you have them, but eventually I'll put them on the blog, too. This is a great learning activity! The picture of the cardinal in the palm fronds is used for my drawing of the "Cardinal in the Pine Tree." More later.

Primitive Hearts Quilt

This has to be one of my favorite quilts. I love Valentine's Day and hearts are always pretty on quilts, so jump in and make one of these quicki-to-make quilts. The pictured quilt is a baby quilt made by my friend Sissy who lives in Willamsburg, VA.

The Primitive Pieced Hearts quilt is made from 2 1/2" strips that are simply pieced into 4 patch blocks. Using a diagonal set and background fabric for one of the block corners creates the pattern of hearts. You may use one fabric or many different fabrics for this quilt.

Here are the directions for a lap size quilt with borders 47" X 58". You'll need 52 heart blocks and 35 background blocks. Fabric: 2 1/2" strips--18. Hearts 52. Background fabric: 2 1/2" strips-4: 4 1/2" strips-4; 4 1/2" strips(one 22" strip of fabric will make 3 hearts: 8 1/2" squares for edge triangles -6: 4 1/2" squares for corners 2. Borders may be made at your own discretion.

PIECING: Cut 8" from each of the strips of heart fabric. Save the remainder for later. With Right sides together, sew the 8" pieces of heart fabric one after the other to each of the 2 1/2" background strips. Press seams toward the darker fabric.
Cut each group apart at 2 1/2" intervals. You should have 3 rows from each heart fabric.Sew each row to the reserved strip of matching heart fabric and trim it even with the two patch segment. Press toward the darkm fabric. Arrange the heart and background blocks; use the edge and corner triangles to fill in the edges and corners. Trim corners and edges of quilt as described. Attach borders as you wish.

Labels for quilts

One should always make a label for the quilt. It should have the name of the quilt, the maker's name, and the date, for sure! Anything more than that may be added. They may be hand stitched, embroidered by machine, or hand painted. Whatever works for the quilt is fine. It should be hand blind stitched to the back of the quilt on the far right cortner. If running behind and it won't show, it may be sewn on by machine; however, this is not very satisfactory in most cases.
The background should be light enough for the writing to be quite evident.
Many people use a piece of the fabric that is on the front of the quilt, if it is light enough to read the writing.

PINWHEEL BLOCKS

Many of you wish to see pictures of my blocks. I am showing the center point, the finished block, and the back of the block so you can see how to do all of this pattern. It is truly a beautiful quilt when finished. I am using Amy Butler fabrics that are so vibrant in color and design. Backgrounds for pinwheels are all different shades of green. I'll put the finished project on the blog when I finish it. Be sure to be accurate when joining pieces and the center seam. That is most important. GOOD QUILTING! happy days!!! :)B