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One birdie's attempt to figure things out. Oh, and crafts.

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The Flock Block

August 29, 2012 by Michele

 

Hi there.

 

How are things with you? Well, I hope.

Guess what?

I have returned.

I had such a great August Break. Oh so nice… And I will tell you about it later but for today I’m easing back into work with a short little post.

 

My blog friend Amy is having a cool contest called “Texting While Sewing” and I’m squeaking in at the veeeerrry last minute with this wee quilt block I designed. The goal of the contest is, in Amy’s words, to use text fabric creatively in a 12″ quilt block. This idea sounded like such a hoot to me, I could NOT not take part. My only issue? I didn’t own a single stitch of texted fabric. This meant of course that I HAD to go out shopping. Woe is me, eh?

Despite the apparent popularity of texted fabrics (and there are some really beautiful ones out there) my little hick town fabric stores are mostly allergic to them from what I can gather. Hrmph. Among the stores I travelled to, I found a grand total of four texted fabrics. Four! And two of those were too ugly for words. No pun. Anyway, so I bought the other two.

Truth: You know your life is pretty darn sweet when all you’re complaining about is the lack of texted fabric. 

So here’s my block. I call it The Flock Block. See? It is puzzle of pieced birds with some playful word embroidery for good measure. The birdies fly blissfully round and round one another.  An ornithological merry-go-round, if you will.

I still have some work to do on the design. However my hope is to, one day, make it available as a pattern in the shop. I’m thinking it would be cute in a baby quilt and all solid colours… Comments, suggestions?

 

♥M

Filed Under: quilting Tagged With: birds, embroidery, event, quilt blocks, quilt design, Texting While Sewing

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bookkm says

    August 29, 2012 at 3:33 pm

    Adorable and clever. I was about to ask you to COME BACK! And here you are. Missed you and your ideas.

  2. Ludo braille says

    August 29, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    Je suis heureuse de te retrouver !!!
    J'aime beaucoup ce nouveau projet !!!
    bisous
    Nadia

  3. Amy Friend says

    August 29, 2012 at 3:54 pm

    Great design Michele!! I see more each time I look at it. Thank you so much for fitting it in and joining the contest!

  4. chris says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    I love embroidered details!

  5. Night Garden Design says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    I love the way the embroidery resembles wing feathers. Perfect!

  6. Melissa says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    Oooooooooooooooooh – seriously cute…

  7. Lynne says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:41 pm

    SO clever. LOVE it.

    And, can I just say "…ornithological merry-go-round?" Genius.

    Well done!

  8. nicolette at dutchcomfort says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    This is totally awesome!!! It will work in any fabric and solids. Great design!

  9. evilredcaboose says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    That is ADORABLE!!!!!

  10. ktquilts says

    August 29, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    Great idea is an understatement! Wonderful block!

  11. Terri says

    August 29, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    It's "tweet". I love the quilting, and the pattern! Good job.
    Hugs

  12. Mama Pea says

    August 29, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    Okay, this is totally awesome! I love the tessellating design! How cool! I didn't have much in the way of text fabric, either. What I had was NOT inspiring. I made my own text fabric, and I love how you made your own by stitching words on the birds. It is so neat. I hope you do make this a pattern. I think it would be fun to do!

  13. Lynette says

    August 29, 2012 at 9:07 pm

    Boy you come back in a BIG way! Love the block design! I second a previous comment by Night Garden Design, very clever how the embroidery resembles a wing!!! So happy to have you back!

  14. Catherine says

    August 29, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    You are so very clever Michele! Love the added embroidered text!

  15. Michelle L. says

    August 29, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    Such a fun design – love the boids, love them! And I think it's cool that you have math in a geometrically-inclined mathematical block. Welcome back to the webs, Michele!

  16. KJ@letsgoflyakite says

    August 30, 2012 at 12:31 am

    Love your block! What a great challenge! Beautiful work!
    Ps. I hope back to school routines at your home go smoothly!

  17. Alessandra says

    August 30, 2012 at 1:41 am

    welcome back!
    love the tweets on the birds!!
    xxx Alessandra

  18. Charissa says

    August 30, 2012 at 2:07 am

    Tweet tweet! Caw caw!
    So cool, Michele. Glad you took her up on the challenge.

  19. Noreen says

    August 30, 2012 at 4:02 am

    That's a very cute design! Are you going to do a whole quilt with it?

    • Michele Pacey says

      September 4, 2012 at 1:48 am

      I do hope to one day. 🙂

  20. liniecat says

    August 30, 2012 at 8:20 am

    Welcome back lady.
    I couldnt see the birds till youd mentioned them but then its still early AM here in the Uk……lol but they are smashing!
    Ravens and Doves, maybe even as Xmas Robins……you could do all sorts with the pattern.
    Its a winner this one even if you dont win the contest itself, this little block pattern will surely live on

  21. Giac says

    August 30, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    Welcome back Michele,
    It is just lovely! You did a terrific job and I love the way you used all the fabrics…it's just lovely.
    big hug,
    Giac

  22. pennydog says

    August 30, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    Love this block!

  23. Walter Silva says

    August 31, 2012 at 3:16 am

    This is Fantastic! Even though I don't sew I am fascinated by quilt construction and collage. Great job!

  24. Textile-tally says

    August 31, 2012 at 12:31 pm

    I love the birds!Great design.

  25. craktpot says

    September 1, 2012 at 3:01 am

    I love your flock block! I am all about some tessellations! I studied it until I worked the 'puzzle' and recreated it myself. I used a white tone-on-tone and a black with a simple designs, fyi. The words on the wings… that's just brilliant!

    • Michele Pacey says

      September 4, 2012 at 1:45 am

      I'd love to see your version! Feel free to send me a pic anytime. 🙂

  26. pam says

    September 1, 2012 at 3:16 pm

    I see! You ARE quilting too! So what's up with us?

    I love the irregular geometric shapes used to create the birds and your hand stitching is so precise. Caw and tweet! You HAD to be giggling so much – how did you keep your stitches straight?!

    I have had a little idea in the back of my mind forever for creating a block of trees (you know what kind) – your effort here has given me renewed courage to try!

    I LOVE your block to pieces.

  27. Melissa Kojima says

    September 1, 2012 at 3:41 pm

    Wow. I love it. How funny you couldn't find many text fabrics. The birds are wonderful. I love that they tweet and caw. And it's so nice to see some of your work posted on the blog again. Thanks for visiting mine and commenting on the weekly bunny painting project.

  28. catie says

    September 1, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    i could not see the birds at first {which is a good thing, meaning they are not too obvious} but now i do & WOW! this is amazing! their little faces are aDORable! ♥

  29. Ariane says

    September 1, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    Your block is just wonderful Michele!! I love it!!

  30. Kimberly from 'bugaboo' says

    September 19, 2012 at 5:26 pm

    I've got to be honest. I don't really say this about many quilt squares, since they rarely "speak" to me and a lot of them are, well, unoriginal. BUT, this is AWESOME. I love it.

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I am ecstatic if you choose to link to this site, use a brief description, one photo, or link back to any of my posts. Do not republish entire posts without my permission. Tutorials, patterns and printables are for your personal use only and are not to be used to make items for sale. Thank you.

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