July 2017 Sisters, OR Class With Rosalie Dace -- Project #1

This year (thanks to my friend Nancy!), we went to the Sisters, OR Quilt Week for the first time and had a wonderfully fantastic time. Our first class was two days with Rosalie Dace, called "Confident Color For Quilters", and our first assignment was to make something with black, white, and one other color ... so of course I chose yellow (my favorite color)!! Rosalie tells a funny story about one of her students whose advice about quilting creativity was that, "if you're ever stuck, just make a chicken". Well, I have adapted this advice to my other favorite meme, "just put a bird on it":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmLljk2t8M

Seriously though, we love corvids -- My Mom collects all things crow & raven, and has a neat Pinterest Board dedicated to corvid art and inspiration. And of course we avidly follow Canuck The Crow, and I have scientific interests in urban wildlife. So I turned my classroom assignment into a small art quilt wall-hanging (13" x 20"), as a gift for my Mom.

My art quilt features a lot of impromptu/random piecing, inspired by Rosalie's quilt art, which included practicing how to piece in tiny slivers of fabric (a technique that was taught in the class). I also tried piecing some gentle curves, using Rosalie's methods. And also inspired by Rosalie's art, I incorporated a circular element plus some silver and gold elements that included specialty quilting thread, ribbon, and a vintage gold-tone feather brooch. I used Spunbond craft fabric for the batting (which we discovered at C&T's warehouse sale near us last month), to get a very flat & stiff piece overall. I rather like the results, and am calling the piece, "Corvid Night Life In The City".

"Corvid Night Life In The City", a small (13"x20") art quilt.

Back label on "Corvid Night Life In The City"

Seasonal Miniature Quilt, For "Our" Kestrels

The Kestrel nestbox in our backyard.

Dad Kestel, with lunch.

We have a tabletop stand for hanging miniature (12"x12") quilts, and I've been gradually making a mini-quilt to display for each month of the year. I just finished another one, to commemorate the American Kestrels that have been nesting in our backyard nestbox each of the past four years. They are a small falcon, and we have so enjoyed getting to see them up close. The Kestrel pair usually starts to interact in February, with chicks arriving in May/June ... so I'm not sure yet what month their quilt will be displayed!

"Our" Kestrel chicks (two boys and a girl), fledged June 06, 2017.

(Female) Kestrel-themed mini-quilt. I used a fabric with a print of tiny mice for the top and bottom borders. ;)

Back of the Kestrel-themed mini-quilt. I found this fabric in Honolulu, HI (of all places; there are no Kestrels in Hawaii!!)