Thursday, April 21, 2011

YOU TOO CAN MAKE UNIQUE BIRDS

One always wonders if explanation is required.  This is a bird.  I’ve joined Mary Lou Weidman’s swap again, and this time we are making birds.  I love Mary Lou’s work and “patterns.”  I put that in quotes because I don’t think she really has patterns, at least not in the traditional sense.  She has a unique way of making blocks.  She calls it her Hoochy Mama technique.  You take a piece of fabric and hoochy this and hoochy that and you can end up with a bird like this.  Isn’t it cute?

You may have heard that I don’t care for piecing, mainly because I can never get my seams to match or my blocks to be square.  With Mary Lou’s Hoochy Mama technique I am free from math and worry about seams.  I am free to create.  

Mary Lou encourages quilters to stretch their skills.  She invites you to play and discover your inner artist.  What an adventure it was making this block.  Using the Hoochy Mamma technique, I’ve had fun being creative with the bird’s tail.  I hate to throw away scraps.  When making the bird’s body, I cut the corners off a block of fabric.  I couldn’t throw away those small scraps.  I had to use them, so I made a unique tail.  What a thrill it was to see this develop as I used those left-over pieces of fabric.

This is another creative experiment at making a different kind of tail using scraps.

This is another one where I used the left over corner scraps for the tail.
 
Mary Lou says she is a process teacher.  She does not teach you to make the same quilt that your neighbor makes.  That certainly was true for me when making these birds.  Not one of my bird blocks turned out the same.  Each bird has it’s own unique identity.  I can’t wait until I get my birds from the swap group.  If you want to be adventurous, if you want to be unique, if you want to make quilts that are not just like all the others, I encourage you to check out Mary Lou’s blog.  It is a fun experience just viewing it.   

Allie of Allie-Oops Sweet Happy Life has a whole list of great links to tutorials and patterns.  After you have spent hours surfing that, check out her blog here where she has a tutorial for a magnetic quilted photo frame.  Wouldn't that be a great Mother's Day gift!
Stay Positive!
Caroll  

19 comments:

Vicky F said...

Super cute birds, Caroll!! LOVE what you did with the fanned tail on one.
I have to get going on mine this coming week!
Vicky F

Lynn said...

These are the most adorable birds! Wonderful!!

Mary Lou Weidman said...

Those birds are awesome and I LOVE the colors and fabrics you used...aren't they fun? And I think they are addictive too! A+ on your outstanding birds! Thanks for joining the swap-pretty fun huh?

Allie said...

Caroll I LOVE your birds!! I'll have to go read the group, I've been remiss lately. I especially love the birds with the tails from corners - how resourceful you are! Thanks for the link up!

Nancy Page said...

These birds are super awesome, fun, cheery, bright, did I say super fun. Anyway, thank you for the link. I will have to try to make a few. Allie-Oops has great tutorials. Thank you for sharing.

Have a super great sewing and stitching day.

Maree in NC :-) said...

Absolutely LOVE your birds! Way to go! :~D

I'm really missing being a part of another great Mary Lou swap!

Barb said...

These birds are soooo adorable!!

Terry said...

Oh I love those birds! I think I need to give that type of piecing a try. :0)

woolywoman said...

love your birds! now I have to make some. Really love red bird's tail

Mama Pea said...

Too, too cool! That looks like a complete blast. I love them, Caroll! Wow!

sewhappiness said...

Sooo lovely and cute birds!!!

Kelsey said...

Love your birdies! Especially the blue one with the dots!

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

love your flock of birds. and thanks for the link suggestions. i'm going over there right now...

Canadian Abroad said...

I love the fabrics you used to make your birds. They just make them pop out at you and work so very well. Great quilt.

Leanne said...

Those birds are amazing! I want to make some too!

Spontaneous Threads said...

Oh, they are just too cute!

Erica said...

These look great all put together in that last shot, I really like how each one is different.

Laney said...

Hi! I came over from Lily's Quilts! I love your birds!! Mary Lou's Hoochy Mama piecing is SO fun. I haven't done any in a while, but it is so freeing! Nice work here :)

Unknown said...

I posted a link to your post on my blog here! http://thecreativeartist-jordan.blogspot.com/2011/05/link-sharing.html

The birds are simply adorable and I appreciate the inspiration!

lkjlkj

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