New Baby Quilt

I'm working on a new baby quilt. Little Eloise is already 9 weeks old, so I'm a bit behind in this birthday present. I have been in a creative slump. And unslumping yourself is hard to do. But recently, I discovered the joys of reverse applique and found some inspiration in a little bird. I pulled out some scraps and began playing. I do believe this little bird square will propel me back into the world of creation.

Here is my process, and the first square in Eloise's baby quilt.

Lately it seems that bird silhoette motives are everywhere in designs. I found this bird online with a quick Google search. I printed out the outline and cut it out. Google image searches are so great for finding inspirational shapes and designs.

I love to upcycle old clothing. On the back is fabric from an old pair of Banana Republic pants. Somehow, I never quite found the right occasion for purple pants. So, I cut them up and made a scarf. The leftovers are going in this quilt.

The bird has flown onto my square of pink paisleys. I drew around it with a disappearing ink marker and sewed that line with brown thread.

After sewing around the bird, I used embroidery scissors to cut the top fabric out.

This is definitely the rough method for this technique. It will fray, but not much. And I like the folksy look to it.

On the back side, I trimmed the purple fabric down.

I put together some simple edges of brown in different widths and then sewed some brown strips into a swatch of those purple pants.

Trimmed them to size.

The first square!

I sure do like creating quilts without too much of a plan. I know this is not the way most people do it. But I like the freedom of it. We'll see how it goes.