Shirley Ratliff took my Birds in Toyland class online and she recently sent me this photo of her finished quilt. She changed the setting blocks and outer border to suit her style and she machine quilted it herself, using a variety of patterns. Don’t you love it?!

Shirley says:

This quilt always makes me smile. You encouraged us in the class to make it ours and that was fun! Fabrics were all from my stash. And I had a blast collecting sweet nothings for all the embellishments. 

I was new to needle turn applique when I started, and now it’s a favorite technique.  My absolute favorite part is doing the quilting. It was exciting to come up with designs for each block. Free motion and ruler work was done on my longarm.  

Thanks for such a wonderful class!

Shirley 

Thank you, Shirley, for sharing your quilt with us. You did an excellent job and I hope you enjoy this quilt for years to come!

If you are interested, click here to find the Birds in Toyland book.

Suzanne Cassanelli sent a photo of her just completed, amazing Steve’s Birds quilt and the story that goes with it. Be sure to read the story :-).

I just finished this beautiful Steve’s Birds quilt and I wanted to send you a photo. I’m so happy and proud of myself. I never imagined I could complete such a project. It’s my very first applique, and I learned so much from your classes. I’d bought all the patterns but never actually finished a project before this one.

These birds are a gift for a friend I’ve known for fifty years. I’ve decided to make and give a quilt to everyone I’ve truly loved in my life. I still have a little time. Thanks you again for this pattern and for your classes, which are so clear, so comprehensive, and for your kindness. Joyeux Noel… Suzanne

Thank you, Suzanne, for your kind words and for sharing the story of this quilt. You did a lovely job AND you gifted the quilt to your long-time friend. How wonderful! And you are going to make more quilts specifically to give to special people. That is a very good idea. I don’t always know where my quilts are going to end up and I’m going to remember this…

Linda Souza sent me her version of Steve’s Birds and I am sure you will love it as much as I do!

Linda wrote:

I just loved working on this. The birds are wool applique on cotton. I added the names because everyone who would see what I was working on asked the bird names.😎 As you can see the red robins at the lower left, not a part of the pattern were added only because we see lots of robins in the San Francisco bay area.

Thank you for this great project.

Thank you, Linda, for sharing your quilt with all of us! I love your robins… you did a great job designing that block! I grew up with robins but we don’t see them much around here—at least not around our house—and I miss them. I also like the names you added! Well done, you!

If any of you are interested in the bird patterns, click here. Happy stitcing!