Birdsong Quilt

Finished up this beauty last week, now resting comfortably in it's owner's home! Isn't it interesting how you think you have it all planned out and then inspiration strikes and changes everything? So is the case with this quilting.  Several months ago Leslie emailed me regarding the quilting of her Birdsong, we decided on outline quilting the appliques with a variety of background fills.  Then the quilt arrives and I'm not "feeling" the original quilting design, but it's what we discussed and I push forward.  Or try to push forward, for whatever reason So Fine #50 with bottom line #60 kept shredding and breaking, it was crazy frustrating!!! I wasn't even going to try the monopoly around the appliques! Not sure what was going on, except to say the Universe was talking to me and telling me this was not the plan.  After talking with several longarmer's, the consensus was....use a heavier weight thread.  Well that changed everything! As I waited for the Magnifico #40 wt thread to arrive from Superior threads, I kept receiving emails and other promotional ads on Judi Madsen's new book and her craftsy class, Secondary Designs.  Her quilting has always captivated me but could I pull something off like this? I started tinkering around with background design elements and voila! 2 different designs came through.  One appears as a frame and the second as falling rain.  The thread arrives and I'm ready! I couldn't wait to see my secondary design come to life.  Honestly, the first row had me seriously questioning, "what the hell was I thinking!!!???" but by the last row, I had the quilting figured out and was moving much faster through the blocks.  Outline quilting is always a bit tedious but by quilting the background first, it seemed as though the hopping foot knew exactly where to go.  So, enough blah, blah, blah, blogging....here's the picture overload!!!!

Specs: 67 x67.  2 battings; Wool and cotton.  Thread: Superior Magnifico White and Sage Green, Art Studio Rust and Fantastico Blue/purple

I know some area's show up in several different pictures, but I just couldn't help myself for loving all that quilting texture.  The sun was shining just right and captured the quilting wonderfully!  

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Sue