Confession time - I saw this die and said "What can I make with that except a Halloween quilt???!?!" So I was determined that my quilt would not be overtly "halloween." I wish that I were a writer of children's books. You see after lots of playing with ideas and what ifs, and Electric Quilt designing software, I saw a full fledged character. He needs a book to tell his story.
May I present to you------The Absurd Bird!
In my mind, he is a type of super hero, although just a bit off kilter.
I had a wonderful time using the Spiderweb die
and the wonderful bundle of Island Batik fabrics - Electric Desert - designed by Jackie Kunkel.
I cut lots of pieces using the Spiderweb die.
Then I sewed several spiderweb sections.
And I constructed the bird's face.
As you can see, the entire rectangle that makes his face is all "spiderweb" blocks.
I cut his spiky "hair" with another Accuquilt Go! half square triangle die.
I used that same die for his beak/neck.
Then I used other dies to make his body and wings and the top and bottom "slanted checkerboard."
For the outer borders, I used strip dies and a small tumbler die.
The bird really wanted to fly around and play. So we went to a local park where he
enjoyed the kids playground.
Then the Absurd Bird went to a small dogwood tree to rest for a bit.
But the sun was very strong and hot here in Alabama on an early September day,
so we decided to go home.
But here are a few more pictures - just in case you haven't seen enough just yet.
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| Tumblers in the outer border. |
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| Fun quilting textures |
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| More texture in the quilting |
For now, the Absurd Bird wishes you happy quilting and lots of smiles.
Note:
Quilt Details: Designed, Pieced and Quilted by Gene Black.
Quilt Size: 44" by 61"
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Cotton
Fabrics: Island Batik
Thread: Aurifil.
The fabrics, batting, cutting die and thread were supplied to me at no cost as an Island Batik Ambassador.
Until Next Time,
Stay Creative
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible.
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14 comments:
I love this quilt. Some child is going to be lucky to get this as a gift. Colors are perfect. Great job, Gene.
Seriously, this is one of my favorite quilts you have made. I LOVE this bird! It absolutely needs a story to go with it.
Wow! I’ve been waiting! He is wonderful! Takes me back to some of the odd dolls I made years ago. I can’t relate to the dies and cutter, but I always love those fabrics. I can see your imagination got an incredible workout, and putting it together was a LOT of work, but SO worth it!
WOW!! - That was DEFINITELY worth the wait!!! You have been teasing this one for a while - and it is SO CLEVER!!! You should submit the pattern to Accuquilt - I bet you'd sell a bunch of them - and they'd sell the dies that are needed to make it - ;))
What a totally fun idea! At first, I was wondering where those spider webs were, but then I saw them. I would love to hear the absurd bird's story!
You made a super fun quilt, your Absurd Bird is beautiful!
Mr Absurd Bird is awesome! I really like him alot, and his description! Amazing colors as well!! Island Batik has cool colors! You make wonderful quilts!! Enjoy your day!! angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom
I think you should consider giving this quilt to your favorite elementary school teacher, so Absurd Bird can become the superhero of a creative writing project.
Such an imagination you have, Gene. This is brilliant!
He's cute!
I love Absurd Bird and his adventures. Very creative, and great use of the spider webs without going halloween. I always enjoy your projects. :)
What a fun 'out of the box' quilt! That bird just has character plus!
What a different (and fun!) way to use the spiderweb die. Cute!
This is a really fun quilt! You definitely must write a little story for him!
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