Birds and More Birds
This was a set of embroidered state birds that had wandered around Texas and Arkansas and Louisiana and finally came to rest in my sewing room. A traveling workshop quilt teacher had bought them at an estate sale somewhere and after some time offered them for sale at various guilds.
No-one wanted them—as there were just 47 blocks. They were nicely embroidered but missing three states–and no-, not Alaska or Hawaii. Now, I don’t remember which states were missing but I bought a children’s coloring book to find line drawings of the missing three states. I added an eagle or two as well.
Then I had to figure out a setting for them. They were hexagonal blocks and not all exactly the same size. It took some doing but the top was completed, the quilting in a feather pattern, and the binding applied.
Instead of sewing on a sleeve and taking a formal portrait, I hung it up on a makeshift clothesline on the front porch.
It was interesting to see what birds each state chose. Robins and mockingbirds were popular choices but my favorite was Rhode Island’s Chicken.
Love it!