Birds in the Air – The Off-Kilter Quilt

April 13, 2017May 13, 2017

Process Post: Riley Blake/MQG Challenge Quilt, Part 2

Okay, so when last I wrote, my process journey had taken me here:

A couple of friends read my last post and responded with some ideas for moving forward. The wonderful HollyAnne (from String and Story) suggested a “birds on the wire” motif and drew me a picture, which I thought was darling:

It was tempting to go in this direction, but as I have been thinking a lot about abstract art lately, I decided that ultimately HollyAnne’s idea leaned too much toward the narrative/concrete/actual side of things for my purposes. I wanted my birds to be birds and abstractions of birds all at the same time. I remembered Matisse’s paper cut-outs (an early draft of the quilt brought Matisse to mind for my friend Kristin as well), and took inspiration from them.

Polynesia, The Sky – by Henri Matisse

Vicki (My Creative Corner 3) was kind enough to send a sketch that offered a different formation for my birds:

I liked that a lot and started playing around with my own sketches for a flight pattern. I could see in my head what I wanted, but it was harder than I thought to draw!

Ultimately, I decided to draw it with painter’s tape:

And from there, I started pinning up my birds. A friend, seeing the picture below on the show notes for the last episode of “The Off-Kilter Quilt,” noted that a gray background might help the lighter-colored birds stand out more, and she’s absolutely right. However, I had already spent as much money as I planned on spending to meet this challenge, so the background will stay as is.

I played around with some other elements, trying to figure out if the quilt needed something more. While I didn’t hate the additions I played with, I don’t think they added much, and my friends who were giving me feedback online (HollyAnne, Vicki, Kristin and Jen) agreed with me.

After I appliqued the birds to the background fabric, my main concern was that the quilt needed to be wider. To that end, I played with adding a border to one side. First, I tried this (please excuse how dark this picture is):

And then I switched sides and added another row, so it looked like this:

I liked the width it added, but i wasn’t sure about this border in general. When I sent a picture to Kristin, she agreed that it added something, but it wasn’t quite right–it didn’t fit in with the quilt’s curves. Maybe I should just add a solid border? So that’s what I tried next:

I also sort of liked this, but when Kristin said that it made the quilt look like a book, I knew exactly what she meant. So because I have other quilts to make and a life to live, I decided to simply have a skinny quilt. I’ll add a little color by using a variegated border made from all the fabrics in the line, but I’m not going to add any more width.

I made the binding last night (I’m trying to make this my new habit–to make the binding before I start quilting). To get an idea of how it will look, I hung it up alongside the top:

As of this writing, I’m at work on the back. In an effort to spend as little money as possible, I’m using a long piece of muslin I had lying around. It needs to be just a touch wider and just a touch longer. So far I’ve added a pieced trip to the back (and may add one more) and plan to add something to the bottom to give it a bit more length.

I’ve enjoyed how collaborative this part of the process has been. Even when people make suggestions you ultimately don’t use, they’re useful in helping you re-vision your design and consider other possibilities.

Next up, quilting the quilt!

September 26, 2016October 13, 2016

Photo Gallery: Birds in the Air Launches at ‘Evening Stars’

Many, many thanks to the Chattahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Guild for inviting Frances O’Roark Dowell to launch Birds in the Air at the 2016 Stars N Stitches Quilt Show on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Cumming, Georgia.

Author Frances O’Roark Dowell signs copies of her new novel Birds in the Air on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, at the annual conference of the Atlanta-area’s Chattahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Guild. Birds in the Air (Milton Falls Media, Sept.) is Dowell’s (Dovey Coe, The Secret Language of Girls, Trouble the Water) first book written for adult readers. Marianne Fons calls it “a truly enjoyable read” about “the power of quilts to connect, heal, and restore the soul.”

Author Frances O’Roark Dowell (l.) celebrated the launch of Birds in the Air (Milton Falls Media, Sept.) with a trunk show and book signing on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, at the annual meeting of the Atlanta-area’s Chattahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Guild. The show featured a number of quilts by Dowell (Dovey Coe, The Secret Language of Girls, Trouble the Water) incorporating variations on the traditional Birds in the Air quilt block, a central element in her new novel — her first for adult readers.

September 20, 2016March 30, 2022

Birds in the Air is here!

“A truly enjoyable read! Quilters will relive their own first patchwork steps along with Emma as she searches for her place in a new community. Non-quilters will experience vicariously Emma’s discovery of the power of quilts to connect, heal, and restore the soul.” –Marianne Fons

I’m so happy to introduce you to Emma Byrd, wife, mother, introvert, wannabe writer and — much to her surprise — quilter. Like so many of us, Emma longs for a simple life, and like most of us, she discovers that life is rarely simple, even in a small town in a scenic setting.

I wrote this book for a simple reason: it’s the sort of book I wanted to read — a book with quilts and quilt-making at its heart. As a writer and a quilt-maker as well as a wife and mother (and a homebody!), I’m interested in intersection of daily life and creativity, the useful and beautiful. No wonder I love quilts so much!

I hope you read and enjoy Birds in the Air. If you do, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com and/or Goodreads. Thanks so much!

Birds in the Air, A Novel by Frances O’Roark Dowell

When Emma Byrd moves into the house of her dreams in the small mountain community of Sweet Anne’s Gap, she knows that making friends may prove to be her biggest challenge. Her husband loves his new job and her kids are finding their way at school. But Emma — no natural when it comes to talking to strangers — will have to try a little harder, especially after the sweet, white-haired neighbor she first visits slams the door in her face.

Luckily, a few of the quilters of Sweet Anne’s Gap adopt Emma and she soon finds herself organizing the quilt show for the town’s centennial celebration. But not everyone is happy to see the job go to an outsider, especially one who has befriended an outcast pursuing her own last best chance at redemption.

With Birds in the Air, Frances O’Roark Dowell (winner of the Edgar Award, the William Allen White Award and the Christopher Medal) has created a warm, funny novel about fitting in, falling out and mending frayed relationships one stitch at a time.

“What a delightful book! … As I read, I was transported out of my chair and into the town of Sweet Anne’s Gap and the lives of the quilters that I can understand so well.” –Annie Smith

“Birds in the Air is a great book and quilt block — it’s as unusual as liking the book and the movie! It was such a pleasurable read. I cared about the characters and what happened to them. I enjoyed revisiting what it is like to be a brand new quilter.” –Kathy Mathews, ChicagoNow

A Quilting Q&A with Author Frances O’Roark Dowell

Why did you decide to write about quilters? There’s a rule of thumb for writers: Write the books you want to read. I’m so happy whenever writers like Jennifer Chivavirini, Marie Bostwick and Sandra Dallas come out with new quilting novels–I wish more quilters wrote books! So it makes sense that if I love reading books about quilting, I should write one.
What draws you to quilting? I’ve always loved quilts. For many years I was convinced that I’d never be able to make a quilt (I’m math phobic, for one thing), and when I finally realized I could, quilting became my new passion. I recently interviewed novelist Marie Bostwick for my blog and asked her why she made quilts. Her answer: Because I can’t paint. I totally got it. Making quilts satisfies my artist soul (the one that can’t paint, alas).
How are quilting and writing similar; in what ways do they differ? With both quilting and writing, I revise a lot. I find this especially true now that I’m designing more of my own quilts. I mess up a lot in both endeavors, but find that sometimes my failures lead to good, unexpected places. Neither books nor quilts always end up being exactly what you intended them to be — for better and for worse. One thing that’s different about making quilts is that you’re constantly in motion, going from the cutting board to the sewing machine to the ironing board and back again. It’s great to move while I’m making something instead of just sitting in front of a computer.
How did the “Off-Kilter Quilt” podcast come about? I’d been making quilts for a few years when I discovered quilting podcasts. For the most part, these podcasts were homey and conversational, and I loved listening to the hosts talk about their projects and guild meetings, and hearing about the books they were reading and what they were having for dinner. For me, starting a podcast was like joining an ongoing conversation with other podcasters, which then became an ongoing conversation with my listeners, who leave comments, send me emails, and sometimes even come through town and have a cup of coffee with me. It’s a really wonderful, supportive community.