Chirp

Edit: I originally wrote this post almost a year ago, and it was accidentally published instead of a BOM post. You all know how frazzled I was last year. Anyway, here it is again.

I have not made much progress on that quilt yet. I have a few other things to finish first, but I am sewing up a storm these days and hope to get back to it soon.

More than three years ago, I designed a quilt featuring birds. It was during the height of Covid and at the start of my second round of chemo treatments, so it ended up in a “for later” folder. I never got around to actually making it, let alone writing a pattern. But it stayed in my mental quilt queue, next in line once I had caught up on the other projects on my list.

The other day, I walked into Cozy Cottons, our local quilt shop, and Angela, the owner, was unpacking a new fabric line that had just arrived. It was called Chirp by Elena Amo for Moda, and I fell in love with it instantly. The little birds looked a lot like the ones I had drawn for my quilt, and I knew I needed that fabric, at the very least for the backing.

I went home and dug up the design. Armed with a list of fabric requirements, I went back to the store a few days later and took a closer look at the full line. My original design used a Tula Pink fabric for the border, and the rest of the colour scheme was bright and bold. I changed it to a more muted palette so I could use the Chirp fabrics for this project. There is a stripe in the collection, and stripes often work well for borders and bindings. I decided to use it for the border and build the rest of the colour scheme around it.

I was looking for a neutral fabric for the background, but I ended up choosing one with a design as well. The bugs, bees, and butterflies were just adorable, and they will make a lovely addition to the bird blocks.

It will be a while before the quilt and pattern are finished, but I have started working on it, and I am enjoying all the cute Chirp fabrics.