Back in 2019 I purchased this block of the month by Lynette Anderson from Cross Patch - called Tree of Life, this is a 5 part BOM. Each month I received a pattern that included all the instructions, a traceable stitchery design, applique templates, and a beautiful hand painted button that is used to embellish each block. Anyway, as is often the case, life was busy with other stitching projects and this was packed away until a few weeks ago, and I was finally able to make a start on it. The fist pattern for this project is Birds of a Feather...
...these pretty fabrics are also designed by Lynette Anderson and are from a variety of her collections. Although I'd purchased a fabric pack to make this quilt with, I'm also using fabrics from my "Lynette stash" too. These half inch hexies have been made using pre-cut hexagon papers (these are fusible so stay in place) and will be stitched onto the background fabric individually. The leaves have been made using the Apliquick method. I've traced the shape of the leaf onto applique paper, which is then fused onto the wrong side of the fabric, and the edges folded over - these will alsp be stitched in place onto the background fabric once they've been embellished with some hand embroidery...
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...I've also used the Apliquick method for the tree trunk and the branches. As I've already the full set of patterns for this project, I've stitched all the branches in place. The background fabric for this project is a beautiful piece of yarn dyed fabric that I'd purchased from Little Quilt Store when it was still owned by Lynette, along with the wool for the appliqued flowers. These wool flowers are stitched in place using blanket sttich and a Suffolk Puff has been stitched to the centre. These flowers are then further embellished with a detached blanket stitch and colonial knots...
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...the bird for this block is hand embroidered, asnd I've used a selection of variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads (as suggested in the pattern instructions) - these are really lovely to sew with. Once the bird wa sembroidered, I fused the applique paper to the back, and prepared the edges so that it's ready to stitch to the background fabric...
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...small circles of fabric have been hand embroidered with musical notes then appliqued into place, to give the effect of the bird singing. The beautiful hand painted buttn will be sttched in place once the quilt is completed, so I've just laid it on the bird for the photoshoot...
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...and here's the fist completed bird - it really does look so pretty nestled amongst these gorgeous wool appliqued flowers and hexies. I have prepared the rest of the wool flowers and will get them all stitched in place before I start the next bird ready for the next block.
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