Birds In A Red Sky

I have the blocks all pieced. You may remember this as the "Red Sky At Night" cover quilt from Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, July/August. This was a fun quilt to piece, all the small triangles pulled from my stash. I'm entitling my version "Birds In A Red Sky" when I realized that it is totally comprised of "Birds in the Air" blocks, not "Ocean Waves" as I mistakenly called them in an earlier post. Yes, indeed, it was fun to piece. I think that was due, in part, to two things: 1. I have switched to Aurifil 50 wt. thread for piecing and I absolutely LOVE it! It is smooth, virtually lint free, and buries itself into the fabric; it's nice. 2. I have spritzed the pieced blocks with Mary Ellen's Best Press and they lay flat, true and stable. I have been completely blown away by this product. It's called a "clear starch alternative", whatever that means. I used the Citrus Grove scent, the studio smelled like a Florida grove all afternoon! (The scent is pleasant, subtle, and doesn't remain on the item once the iron heats and dries it.) The construction method for this quilt is bias-cut triangles; slashed squares to form the half-square triangles. I used the Best Press when I had the small sections done, a spritz followed by a quick press of the iron and then I let them cool in place and didn't over-handle them. They lined up perfectly with the larger, red triangles, when it was time. Another spritz, press, and off to the design wall where they are currently pinned. I let them 'steep' all weekend and after much intense scrutiny, I'm satisfied enough with the arrangement and will join them today. It's 60" square, I have located the perfect fabric for the backing, just happened to locate that in my stash, too! Oh, yeah!

Life is Good!