'tis a gift - Song Bird tutorial

The idea for this section is to make it an anything can happen kind of day.

Since I am working on my "In The Good 'Ol Summertime 2009" swap I decided to do a mini tutorial.

It has turned into a very mini tutorial because I was sleeping beauty today with a stinker of a sinus headache (one of the drawbacks of living in Tennessee) and I'm only sharing a few of the steps in my thought process.

Tutorial - making the pattern pieces

I made the main block pieces out of tracing paper and added 1/4" seam allowances.

The applique pieces are cut from copies of the pattern.

I decided to do a "mock up" of the block in calico just to make sure the pieces all fit together properly.

Tutorial - sewing together

(Sorry , it loaded sideways).

The center panel is on point with 4 outside triangles to turn it back into a square.

Sew two opposite triangles to the center fabric.

Iron flat.

Sew the remaining triangles to the center fabric.

Iron flat then trim to the square.

Tutorial - Playing with the paper pieces

(Aaargh it loaded sideways.)

The book does not have full patterns for all of the designs. I made two or three paper copies of the block so I could cut out all the applique pieces. Each is numbered which makes it simple to follow the main layout. Just to make it a little more interesting all of the leaves are different sizes.

Tutorial - Applique option

There are a number of options for cutting out applique pieces. I chose to do the following.

Lay the pattern pieces face down on the back of the fabrics.
Draw round each piece with a dark micron archival pen.
Cut out the fabrics INSIDE the lines.
Lay out the pieces on the calico and make sure all the pieces are there. This also helped me to see if I like the colors together.
Store all the small pieces in a marked envelope. I plan to use them again.

I'm giving myself some options with regard to the applique. I've opted for raw edge since there are so many small fiddly pieces but I have not decided yet whether I want to stick them down first. This also means I have no "seam allowance" as would be the case for a turned edge.

I'm going to wait till I finish the rest of the block together before sewing the pieces down.

Tutorial - Play around with colors

I like the colors I picked out for the applique but the big decision is what to do with the background.

It's fun (at least for me) to cut out different colors and PLAY. If they don't get used in one project they will get used in something else.

After some trying out it became apparant that I needed to lean toward warm colors.

Tutorial - Currently contemplating

I've decided to go with this color combination and am now playing around with different border designs.

The center block fabric reminds me of wheat fields and the triangle picks up one of the colors. I may use the green for the outside border to tie everything together.

At the moment everything is sitting on my table while I mull things over. When I make my own one it will be in a different color combination.

Decisions, decisions, decisions 2

Now comes the hard part for the "In The Good 'Ol Summertime 2009" swap. I've picked out three designs. The Song Bird block is my favorite but I'll have to look at what summer type blossoms are out there. The deadline for this swap is September 21st and it has to be a minimum of 12"x12"