Sneak Peek

Sometimes things just happen.

For example, I decided to console myself after the "can't-get-a-decent-picture" debacle and surfed my feedly for inspiration.

AND BOY, WAS I INSPIRED!!

THEN...I got a Quiltmaker magazine in the mail.  I thought my subscription was up because it seems like forever ago that I got one.  So I promptly sat down to drool over stuff I would probably never attempt to make.  HOWEVER, an advertisement caught my eye.

EQ7

I have been salivating over this software for some time. It is for quilters who want to design their own quilts.  I guess you can plug in fabric swatches and spin blocks this way and that...but unfortunately I have a dinosaur of a computer and more than likely would never be able to run it on here.  PLUS, it's a tad expensive and we are very short on cash these days.

HOWEVER

When I went to the site there is a FREE EQ Boutique that offers some free (and others not so free) quilt blocks.  Most of which are applique.  So I took one of the free ones to play with.

It was birdies.  CUTE birdies.

I have already made some gifts for each of my moms... There is a pillow cover coming down the pike that is FANTASTICALLY FETCHING and I cannot wait to show it to you.  Until then, here is a sneak peek at the cute lil' birdies!

Lil Birdie

 Depending upon the project, I may give her feet but for this particular one, it wasn't really worth the bother.  I also will probably reverse a couple of the pieces so they work out better, but only if I remember to do it next time I sew one.  :-)  This particular one I resized to 6 inches instead of the standard 9.  Because of that, I was unable to use one of the pieces because it was just too small.  I will probably print out another one a little bigger and slap that together in the future.  She is so cute!  I am feeling the urge to name each and every one.  She is Eve and the next one is Adam, because they were my firsts.  lol.

Too Far?  Okay then...

Then there is my very first attempt:

Mr. Owly

Don't look too closely because this was my "test piece" to see how difficult it was going to be to machine embroider the edges...and to fiddle with the numbers to get it to my liking.  So his eyes are a little scary if you look at them.  Also, I will cry when I run out of the material I used for the eyes because those "pupils" are really just how I cut the material.  So when I am done with it, I am going to need to either make my own pupils or go boring because the pattern doesn't actually call for pupils.  This particular one is done on a burlap body which I am truly loving and will most likely make more like this - and also get darker brown burlap.  The one for the pillow cover does have cute little orange feet, which I totally forgot to put on this one.  Oops.  Thank God Mom loves it no matter how many mistakes I make.  ;-)  The one I put on the pillow cover is on a really cute brown body that I will also use again.  Did I mention the pillow cover?  Navy with white polka dots.  Mr. Owly in the corner glancing up...drool-worthy, I am telling you.

SO?  Do you just love these quaint lil birdies as much as I do?  I am really digging the blue and green together on Mr. Owly.  Any more ideas on what I can do with them?  So far I am thinking pillow covers, bags, and onesies...maybe I will try a book cover?  T-shirts?  Toddler skirts?  Comment me what you want to see Lil Birdie or Mr. Owly on!