Brrrr. It’s a cold, snowy day in northern Michigan. It’s 21 degrees out with a forecasted low of 10 for tonight. Not the coldest weather we’ve suffered through (one year we had what seemed like weeks in the negatives), but it’s still not the kind of weather I enjoy being out in. I prefer the 30s if I’m going to do anything outside in the winter. I didn’t even go outside to snap a picture of the snow but rather took it through the back slider. The flakes have been both tiny and sporadic today, as well as clumped together and coming down fiercely. The sky is a gloomy shade of grey. I’m so glad we have colorfully painted rooms in our home. There’s no way I could handle grey walls all around and a grey sky above and white snow everywhere! Thankfully next week’s weather looks like it’s going to be a little nicer.
I thought I would share an older project today as I’m still hip deep in scraps and haven’t completed my latest scrap quilt top yet.
Let’s travel back to, I think, 1999 or 2000. I know my eldest was just a baby when I completed this project. My mom and I worked on these hangings together. Way back then I would schlep my sewing machine over to my parents’ house and we would work together on projects while my dad and the baby would nap away in the Lazy Boy.
The pattern was Cardinals by Connie D. Roys of Pine Meadows Designs. There were three patterns provided that included cardinals in either summer, winter, or fall. Now you might think that we’d be all about the bright summer option or the equally colorful fall option since we get plenty of winter and see plenty of snow, but you’d be wrong. We chose to sew cardinals in a winter scene. (Speaking of cardinals, I can’t think of the last time I saw one in the winter or any other season.)
An interesting trick we learned from a woman at the quilt shop where we purchased our fabric was to use the same fabric for the red bird’s body and wings but to use the reverse/wrong side of the fabric for the body portion. I’d never considered using the wrong side of the fabric before and haven’t done so since, but it worked for this project.
I like to bring this hanging out after Christmas and leave it up until it’s time for Easter decorations.
(In case you’re interested, we used a stick for hanging it that my husband painted with polyurethane. Sticks make cute hangers, though with their natural curves it can be interesting to get the project to hang straight on the wall!)
Lazy Saturday Quilts 