Hope Is That Thing With Feathers

Hey ya'll, Magpie Sue here. My blog is From the Magpie's Nest. I've been in Tonya's Summer Class and have made a few free pieced letters, and of course I read her blog :- ) The way I work now is very much influenced by the techniques in Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Quiltmaking.

I wanted to participate in this Priority Hope challenge as soon as I read about it. In fact, I was grateful for the "opportunity" it created as my mother-in-law has just been installed in a care facility. I knew about Ami's project and had been intending to contribute to it for a while.

Anyway... I didn't feel up to free piecing letters at the time so I chose a print from my stash that had a little bluebird as part of the design. I also chose it partly because my MIL loves music.

That had to sit for a few days while I worked out what to do with it. I decided to free piece a heart... that became the head of a flower... with two sizes of rick rack for a stem...

and then I needed the rest of the garden to go with it. Some background, some sky, some hand quilting... buttons and beads to enhance the flowers in the print... and suddenly it was done!

Before I mailed it off to Ami I sewed on a pewter ladybug crawling up the stem of the flower. Ladybugs are supposed to be good luck. This has been registered as quilt #3286. I have a feeling there will be more coming from the Magpie's Nest in the not-too-distant future; this was fun!