Susie's Sunroom: July 2016

Sunday, July 31, 2016

A Woodpecker Pillow

Pileated Woodpecker Pillow

Recently, my husband and I took a little trip, and visited his brother and wife, up in New York state. We had lovely weather during the weekend visit.
I discovered that one thing that "the brothers" share in common, is the love of watching birds in their backyards. (They also both hate the squirrels, but we won't talk about that now!) While we were visiting on their patio, it didn't take long for a Pileated Woodpecker to eat from their suet feeder.

They had this same feeder, that holds the suet , and supports the tail of the woodpecker while it feeds.

This is a special woodpecker feeder for birds like the Pileated Woodpecker {here}

We even saw an adult woodpecker feed its young.... just like in this photo.

An adult feeding a baby (from this site)

When I got home, it came to me that I had filed away a pattern for a paper pieced woodpecker awhile ago. If I remembered correctly, I figured I could make a few changes on it, to make it resemble a Pileated Woodpecker.

The Pattern : Woodpecker PP Block by Julianna @ Sewing Under Rainbow

It was designed for the ForestQAL

Size: 12" x 12" block

Woodpecker pp block here

Janelle, at Emmaline Bags, made this beautiful woodpecker in the QAL
(photo by Janelle)

And here is my Woodpecker Block:

Woodpecker made by Susie's Sunroom

I didn't have to change a single line on it. It just needed the right fabrics!
(Don't you love that background fabric.... it's Andover Fabric 's Alison Glass- Sticks & Twine)

The Pileated Woodpecker photo from Wikipedia

I made my block into a pillow.... for their window seat.

Pileated Woodpecker pillow

Of course the back has the covered zipper !

Pileated Woodpecker by Susie's Sunroom

I got two big hugs when I gave them their pillow at our family reunion last weekend.

I just love to quilt!

I'm off to my sewing room!

Linking up at: Can I Get A Whoop Whoop! @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict and
Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric Studio and

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Finished Ribbons Quilt

Sherbet and Creams Quilt Along Quilt

It seems like just yesterday that I jumped in with Joanna Figueroa in the Sherbet & Creams Quilt Along { at Fig Tree Quilts .} It was April when I picked out these fabrics from my stash, to match, as closely as possible , to the Fig Tree's Sherbet and Low Volume Bundles.

My pile of Sherbets:

I pulled these solid "Sherbet" fabrics from my stash

My pile of Low Volumes:

These are all gorgeous Fig Tree fabrics, except for the first and second fabrics
on the left

I didn't know what we were making, but was ready to make anything coming from Joanna!
This is what Joanna made... a Ribbons Quilt! (here) We didn't see the final quilt details until the 5th week of sewing!

Joanna's Ribbons Quilt.... a Sherbet and Creams Quilt pattern

I made a few changes from Joanna's quilt:

Since my low volume fabrics did not have any black or gray colors in them, I did not use black fabric circles and squares for the centers of the 4- Blocks. I had a lot of Millhouse Inn yardage, and found that it was perfect color for the centers.

I got "sew" excited at this step....

Aplique's sewn onto each 4-block

My little helper and I got busy laying out the 4 patch blocks ....

Whiskers helped me layout the blocks

I sewed four 4 -blocks together to make the 12 1/2 unfinished blocks .... and then I re-read Joanna's directions. I should have added squares on some blocks , at the corner, before I sewed them together! Oops!!

I thought about it , and realized that I could add the squares, if they were treated with the Crafted Applique' technique ! { See my post about the "Crafted Applique'.... New Possibilities" book {here} } Ta Da! The little 2 inch squares won't fray, and will be easy to sew on at all of those intersections!

I also added half squares at the edges. Next it was time to sew a 1 1/2 " cream border on all sides, and then the 6 1/2 " wide Millhouse Inn fabric border.

Here is my flimsy top-

Ribbons Quilt made by Susie's Sunroom

And here is my completed Ribbons- Sherbet and Creams Quilt:

Ribbons by Susie's Sunroom

Quilt Details:

Pattern: Ribbons by Joanna Figueroa at Fig Tree Quilts , in Sherbet and Creams Book

Size: 62 " x 74 "

Fabrics: various Fig Tree & Co. fabrics ( Millhouse Inn, Dots, Buttercup )

Batting: Warm and Natural cotton

Thread: Aurifil 50 weight #2024 for piecing and machine quilting

Applique' : Starch Applique for the pumpkin seeds, and Crafted Applique' for the red squares

Quilting: Walking Foot - serpentine "s" stitch - plus - hand quilting stitches of 2 " squares in the scrappy 4-patch areas with Gutermann thread

Hand quilted stitches - 2 inch squares

I had a large piece of the green Millhouse Inn fabric, which I pieced with some cream tonal fabric, for the back of the quilt. It matches the green sherbet pumpkin seeds on the front.