Bird Watching Quilt

I finished up a new quilt, my Bird Watching quilt, (40" x 48").

Bird Watching

Earlier this month I got an email form the Audubon Society, no I'm not a bird watcher but I do like to identify birds I've never seen before from time to time, and in the that email was a picture of a Bohemian Waxwing which caught my attention instantly.  What struck me first from the picture was the color palette followed by the angel of the feathers on the Waxwing wings.

Bohemian Waxwing - picture by the Audubon Society

Originally I was going to hand quilt this design, so I made it 40" x 48" but after I completed the top I realized that 40" x 48" is not a small quilt.  In the end I decided machine quilt the top.

Bird Watching

This design is a bit different for me so I decided to try out some new quilting.  The more I quilted the top the more it reminded me of the back of playing cards.  With that in mind I added some flouncy border motifs in the blue sections to capture that feel.  Even though it was scary to try something new I think the end result was worth it.

Aurifil Thread

Most of this top was quilted with my favorite Aurifil 40 wt 3 ply.  I recently received my Aurifil Artisan gift thread which included all the thread weights that Aurifil offers.  I decided to try out 28wt in my longarm and it worked great!  When I needed to change colors I went for the 28 wt large spool.  I liked to use a corresponding thread color in 40 wt for my bobbin.

Aurifil Thread

I can't wait to try out more weights, including 80 wt for hand applique, 12 wt for hand quilting and that monofilament, all fun.  There are more Aurifil projects I can't wait to share in the following months. 

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"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." 2Peter 3:9