Rosy Outlook

After yesterday evening's snow flurries it's starting to look like Spring. The sky is blue, the willows are turning yellow as the sap rises and the buds on the maple tress are swelling. We've got snow drops and crocuses blooming in the garden. Small songbirds are starting to return from warmer climes. The outlook is rosy - nicer days are just around the corner!

Rosy Outlook, 2012

 

I have this little quilt in my sewing room and I love it because it speaks of Spring and the little migratory birds that come throgh each year. I made it in January 2012 as a result of a President's Paint Pot challenge at my guild.  A one gallon paint tin was  filled with paint chips. The colour of the paint chip you pulled was to be prominently featured in your quilt and the name of the colour was to be the title of the quilt. This is my piece, Rosy Outlook. The background was strip pieced and then sliced up so I could insert the birch trees. I used a black Pigma Micron pen to add details to the trees. The little wren was pieced with several different fabrics and I added details and shading with Pigma Micron pens.Leftover scraps of reds were used to make the little leaves. The whole piece is heavily quilted with a variety of threads. I was very pleased with the finished piece.

I leanred a great deal from this challenge. The paint chip was NOT my colour. But when I started to pull fabrics I was surprised at the numnber of fabrics in this colourway I had in my stash, mind you they had mostly been relegated to boxes of fabrcis I thought I didn't like!  The second part of the challenge was to interprete the name of the colour. I love birds (I have a lot of bird tchotchkes in my curio cabinets) and in particular little brown birds! When I see and hear the little songbirds I know that Spring is on the way so the outlook is, as I've already said, rosy!

Why not get a small group together and start your own Paint Pot Challenge. It is a lot of fun and you are guaranteed to learn something!