Tuesday, February 28, 2017

He Tweeted, She Tweeted...

...and they lived happily ever after.


Welcome to my Twitter Feed.  Some birds tweet, some chirp, and others sing and coo along!

I found the bird pattern at Block Lotto. Here is the link - http://www.blocklotto.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BirdBlockDirectionsV2.pdf



I made the first pair of birds on January 9.





And I was hooked. If two were fun, eight would be a party.


I played with dots, stripes, prints and more.


After that, I went into an assembly line mode.  Since the colors were so energizing, there was no boredom that is normally associated with assembly line work.

Lots of Color

After the first step of block preparation, I stepped back to admire the colors and my handiwork!.

Throats

Legs


Blue Throated Warbler and Fuchsia Woodpecker

I chose pinks and greens, blues and teals, aqua and fuchsia, spots and stripes, but I also used prints and batiks too.  This is an extremely fun quilt block to make, because you can play with so many combinations.

All colors welcome

As I stepped away from the design wall to admire the birds and take in-process pictures, I noticed that there was not enough contrast in the yellow dotty birds' throats and beaks.

Brown Beaks - MEH!

So I changed the beaks from brown to orange.  What a big difference that made.  An orange beak would make it a Cardinal. Meet my Yellow Dotty Cardinals!

Orange Beaks - WOW!

The birds were made in mirror image pairs.  I made 64 birds and the quilt uses 63 arranged nine across by seven down. I finished the flimsy last week and it was a terrific feeling because it meant that I completed at least one of my goals for the OMG link-up.



Finished Flimsy - Yeah!

Since the block is rectangular, I chose to piece in columns.  I realized that it would be impossible to nest the seams, since all blocks are oriented the same way. Therefore I chose to stagger the columns by just a couple of inches to avoid bulky seams.

Can you spot the Chipotle Chilebird?

Once the flimsy was done, I realized that the binding would cover a portion of the beaks/tails on the birds in the edge columns.

My Twitter Feed - FINISHED!!!
So I added skinny strips of background along the sides. That way the Teal Batik Woodpecker (top left) is not pecking away at the binding :-D

So happy :-)

The wide backing fabric came from Connecting Threads.  For binding I chose a sea-green solid.  Since any color binding would look fine with the quilt front, I chose to match the binding with the backing fabric.

Quilted

Quilted with wavy lines, thanks to my Walking Foot and Jacquie Gering's Craftsy class.

The push to finish this Dreamy Tweety Chirpy quilt comes from the fact that I want to enter it in the Quilt Show. The registration ends on February 28, 2017.  There is nothing like a deadline to set my behind on fire and get it done.

What started as a Dreami moment, ended as a lap size quilt.  Finished Quilt is 53" by 63".
Let's get closer to the birds - admire them and name them, maybe.


There is the Green Breasted Fiesta Bird on top left and the Flashy BlueBird next to it.  Do you see the Noella Songbird on the bottom? We also have a Peachy Dotty Cardinal and the Green Beaked Checkbird.


Can you see the Green Throated Bugcatcher in the picture above? And next to it is the Autumn Songbird.  The Pink Striped Woodpecker is facing the Teal Batik Woodpecker.


You see, making them is fun but naming them is super fun too.

A change of perspective

Lap Size - 53" by 63"


A lovely finish, even if I say so myself.


Getting Close



The Black-Winged Greenbird, the Green Breasted Autumn Warbler, and the Red Breasted Finch in the top row above.  The Yellow-Breasted Fuchsia Bird is so bright and the Pink Breasted Purplebird is so regal in her bearing.

Orange Flamebird, Green Winged Thrush, Blue Beaked Chat and Green Breasted Finch occupy the top row in the picture above.

Oh yes, I labelled it and I will put another label to make sure it is ready for the show.  Do you see the Chipotle Chilebird peeking from the right?

Labelled
All names are made-up.  As much as I would like to, I am not a birder, although I have enjoyed bird-watching with dear friends Annie and Hans when I lived in Florida. They would often invite me to accompany them to St. Marks Wildlife Refuge where we enjoyed many lovely afternoons - watching birds, eating oysters and pointing out alligators.


When I made Angel's Midnight Quilt, I had a favorite block and I even had a favorite house in the Homeful quilt. But I cannot pick one favorite bird in My Twitter Feed Quilt.  And that works perfectly because I would not want any jealous tweets here :-D

But please let me know - which one is your favorite.  And if you want to name a bird or two, I would be so tickled :-)

I will be linking with OMG, Sandra's Dreami Linky Party and all my other favorite linky parties.

71 comments:

  1. Adorable that you've named your birds! And the quilt is a lovely finish! Many wishes of success in your quilt show! ctfxdz

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  2. Love your tweeters and all their pretty colors. Great job getting it finished up for your OMG.

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  3. such adorable tweeters!!;)))) I love the mistletoe birdie--harbinger of Christmas...this is a lovely piece I like how you prepped them all first hugs, Julierose

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  4. Oh, Preetie, I absolutely love it! I have made a couple of these birds and they are lots of fun. I'm intrigued by your approach and delighted with the names of all the different birds. Very clever, my dear! Excellent post! XO

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  5. This is really beautiful and fun quilt! x Teje

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  6. OMG what an adorable flock of birds!! Congrats on the fantastic finish:)

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  7. Congratulations on your Tweetie quilt finish! I always like seeing the quilts using Sophie's pattern. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. This quilt is so fun, love looking at it and thinking about making one too. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  9. I'm terrible at picking favorites so I won't try to pick one bird I like best, but I adore the whole flock together! Congratulations on a fabulous finish!

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  10. This flock of birds is darling. I love all the bright and fun prints that give each one its own personality. Congrats on your finish! You should be tweeting about it :)

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  11. Your tweets quilt is just too dang cute! You may have staggered the blocks as a way to avoid matching seams, but the end result is so much more interesting than if you hadn't :) Love it when easier and more interesting meet up so well!

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  12. What a wonderful, colorful beauty. Congratulations to the stunning work!

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  13. OMG... this is just wonderful,,, my Sis LOVES birds and just last week i found this and thought,,, hummmmmmm,, I should make this! Now up you pop with one all done... That's true "karma"...LOL
    ps... is that little baby here yet??? Just wondering... can't wait to send something for HE or SHE...:)) GrammaBabs

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  14. Oh, this would be such a fun quilt for an I Spy or helping little ones find the pairs. It's hard to pick a favorite because the fun is in how they all play off each other with their differences. I do see a couple of Watermelon Warblers with their green rind throats.

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  15. What a fun quilt! I want to make one after seeing all of your bright, colorful birds. Too bad I can't seem to catch up with myself. It is absolutely going on the "one day when I can" list.

    I don't think I can choose a favorite, but I am certain that I'd have a blast naming them. Your names are creative and describe the birds so well. My mom was a birder and this quilt has me thinking about her. She would have love it!

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  16. I love the name of the quilt! And the personalities in your birds equal that of their creator. :-) Beautiful and that backing is spectacular.

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  17. It's so fantastic... I just adore it!

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  18. This is such a fun quilt, Preeti! I love all your birds in their various color combinations and personalities! Thanks for the link to the tutorial - I see some of these birds in my future!

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  19. Absolutely adorable. I can see the fun you had creating. Great progress story and pictures. Novel column idea.

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  20. The pattern is so cute and I love your arrangement of birds on the different backgrounds. So pretty!

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  21. Brilliant. I love it. I am thinking I need to make one too.

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  22. Such a great quilt! It's hard to pick a favorite bird, though I do see a couple that look like "real" birds. They all have so much personality. And what a great name for the quilt! I'll take this kind of tweeting any time. Have a great day! :)

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  23. Preeti, this quilt has so much personality. I LOVE it. You were genius to change out some of the beaks - I love the tiny bits of orange - Also, genius move to add the strips around the edge to preserve the beaks. I can't wait to hear how it fares at the show. Hope you will let us know. Good luck!!

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  24. This is the most Delightful quilt I have seen in awhile. I'm happy you have entered it in a show. It is certainly one of a kind. I can't pick just one bird- they are too cute. I love the vertical rows and the fact you offset them for ease of attaching! Nicely done. Congrats. mary in Az

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  25. Wonderful quilt. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

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  26. What a fun and colorful quilt... and a great scrap buster! I love that the birds are randomly facing different directions. Ahh... there's nothing like a deadline to push you behind the sewing machine. I've got a couple of those too. Congrats on your finish!

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  27. This is a fun quilt. Would probably make a great scrap busting project... might have to put it on the bucket list. And sorry not good at naming at all. Your name for the quilt is great and good luck with the show.

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  28. Fabulous quilt - I love your work. Thanks for sharing.
    Pauline
    perry94022 at hotmail dot com

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  29. Lovely indeed - you say so, and we say so too. Congratulations on a wonderful, fun finish.

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  30. This is a lovely finish. I love how you staggered the columns and especially how you named the birds. Super cute!

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  31. Love your quilt, really cute and colorful. Tweet Tweet!
    Eileen

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  32. Lively and lovely! I bet is was a lot of fun to do, too.

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  33. You made sixty three? That is an assembly line, and super cute. What a clever way to avoid joining seams, and it totally works, much better than in lines. It's such a happy quilt, good luck in the quilt show.

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  34. ohhh yes! I adore your quilt! And I cannot make the same block over and over with the same fabrics, because I would be bored too! But the fabrics are singing! Fabulous idea for different backgrounds too. ANd I adooore the backing as well.

    Inspiring!

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  35. Love them all, but I am partial to the Ruby Breasted Christmas Jay, just to the right of the Green Beaked Checkbird. What a great finish and your quilt name is very "Current Events" newsworthy! If you get my drift!!

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  36. Oh, I I love this quilt - the layout, the colors all so wonderful! I see two Sea Glass Gulls, one top right other bottom left of center. I will be making one before this year ends.

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  37. Backing would have made a great border too, if one wanted it larger.

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  38. Well, this quilt is really "for the birds"... ; ) Love the bright colors! What a fun quilt : )

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  39. This is amazing. I love how you staggered the blocks -- it just adds something to the quilt. Congrats on the finish.

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  40. LOVE it. Glad I found you. Good call on staggering the blocks - adds so much energy! Seem unable to write in full sentences today, LOL. And let's name one bird Robin. :-)

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  41. I love this quilt. It is so gorgeous!!!

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  42. Cute! You need to let Sophie (Block Lotto) know you made a quilt from one of her patterns. She'd be delighted.

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  43. Oh Preeti!! I never could have imagined when your birds started 'nesting' in your feed that this is what it would become!! It makes my heart 'soar' looking at all those little 'tweeties'! You have reaffirmed that you were not 'cuckoo' when you started this! Kidding aside...this is beautiful, fun and amazing!

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  44. That is just too adorable! I love the name you gave it too.

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  45. This is a great post. I had a lot of fun following the birds as you named them. The title of the post really caught my attention and I thought that was the name of the quilt. I think it's a great name but that's just me. As I look at your flock, I believe I spotted a Blue Foot Booby Firebird (pictured with the Green Winged Thrush, Blue Beaked Chat and Green Breasted Finch). If you google Blue Foot Booby, you'll see that they really have blue feet. hehehe! Funny bird. On that same picture, is there a Batik Blue Jay bottom left corner? :^D I understand your fun at naming them as I could just go on and on. I feed wild birds to the point that they now come and feed in my hand. It's awesome and so is your quilt. Congratulations on this fantastic flock ... uh, I mean finish. And thanks for sharing the discovery of new birds species. So must fun! ;^)

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  46. Thanks for sharing the link to the pattern too. I appreciate. ;^)

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  47. I believe that might be the best Twitter Feed I have ever read ( seen ha ha) What a great quilt - love it!

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  48. Great finish Preeti! Thanks for sharing the link - I have always wanted to make a few of these blocks. It makes for such a colorful flock of birds. Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap!

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  49. How fun! Love all your pretty little birdies. Hope it does well in the quilt show.

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  50. Wonderful quilt, love all your birds. Too hard to choose a favorite! Your design and fabrics are magical.

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  51. This is wonderful! And what a terrific name for your birdie quilt, too! Thanks for sharing your design process, and congrats on a beautiful finish!

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  52. Preeti, this has got to be my favorite quilt of yours in the Whimsical category, to be sure. Your tweets are so cute! I would have a lot of fun making and naming each and every one--and I am inspired because I've been wanting to do something different , and with birds. I can't pick a favorite birdie here, but I'm guessing some of the female birds find the Chipotle Chilebird really hot!

    PS, Your commentary in the Love & Lust post had me ROLLING.

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  53. Just beautiful Preeti. We used this pattern as a block lotto for my guild and we have quite a few of them for us to sew into our own donation quilt. Our will have some negative space and if it looks even half as good as yours I will be very pleased.

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  54. Oh Preeti, your birds are so cute! They have such personalities!

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  55. I absolutely LOVE this! They are adorable. It was brilliant that you staggered the layout. It added so much to the design of the quilt, even if you were inspired to do that by a practicality.

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  56. What a lovely, lively quilt! Very inspiring! Thank you for the many pictures and for sharing the cute names with us!

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  57. I love thi quilt! It looks jut like a flock of birds. Thank you for linking up to #scraptatictuesday

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  58. Lovely! Gorgeous! Awesome! Amazing! I think I like your quilt !!! Thanks for sharing.

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  59. This is so beautiful! I love all the birds, and that you have given them such creative names!

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  60. FANTASTIC quilt ! Love them all AND your names for them !

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  61. I have only made two of these birds and that was a long time ago. I adore your quilt - everything about it! Bravo~!

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  62. I stumbled on this pattern and like you, after making one I couldn't stop. We now have a very colorful lap quilt.

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  63. I love your Twitter Feed quilt. I used the Bird Block and made one and it is adorable!!! But as I look at your process you are doing it with a full square rather then making a triangle. Could you review that process with me.

    Thank you

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