Michele Made Me

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

The Flock Block

by

 

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

Reader Interactions

Comments

  12. Mama Pea says

    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

    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!

  15. Michelle L. says

    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!

  20. liniecat says

    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

    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

  25. craktpot says

    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!

  26. pam says

    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

    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

    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! ♥