Thursday Theme - Laurel Burch

Each Thursday I'll feature items that have a similar theme.  They might be quilts, books, or purses I made.  Or, they might be ceramics or other objects (not made by me) related to the theme.  If there are too many, I'll spread them out over multiple, but not always consecutive, posts.

This week's theme is Laurel Burch.

First up is "Catbird", a quilt I made during a class taught by Wendy Butler Berns that was held at Stitcher's Crossing.  It was a two-day class and it loosened me up quite a bit, at least temporarily!  You could bring an inspiration photograph if you wanted.  Obviously this is not based on a photograph.  I was too chicken to bring a photograph because then it would be obvious how far off the mark I was. 

 I learned a lot of new techniques:

The border treatment was a first for me - three strands of yarn that were couched to the edge with a zig-zag stitch.

The tree trunk, the lake at the base of the tree, and the blue nest where the cat is sitting were all made with a variety of threads and yarns sewn in between two layers of water soluble stabilizer.

 You can also see some thread painting on the leaves.
 

 

 
This is the fabric I used, and it was my inspiration.

Close-up of nest with bead "eggs".

 

You can see the tree trunk and lake a little better on the right.  The hardest thing about making this quilt?  Creating that tiny ball of yarn that the cat is playing with.  It kept wanting to come unrolled.

 

The center of this quilt is a Laurel Burch panel from Saving Thyme.  The panel ends in the black strip with the white dots.  I added the two borders - the solids are silk from Gayfeather Fabrics.

You might remember this bowl from my excellent vintage shopping weekend.  It's nice and big (10-inch diameter) for holding food or fabric projects.  You can see that the top of the bowl has another fat quarter of Laurel Burch fabric.  I have plans for two mini quilts out of that.  One of them will incorporate the yarn and blue batik.

The final item in my final Laurel Burch collection is this pair of socks I bought earlier this month at the Wisconsin Quilt Expo.