Seriously..I think it needs stitches.: Red Bird Quilt Block Tutorial

It's another block for my National Days scrap quilt! When it came to making a bird block for National Bird Day, I had to make a Cardinal. My grandmother's favorite bird was the Cardinal and they are also frequent visitors to my parents' backyard in MO (see Missouri block yesterday). And they're gorgeous, especially against the whites and grays of winter. So this is my scrappy tribute to the Cardinal for my National Days scrap quilt project.

Here's how I stitched up my Cardinal-as always, using scant quarter inch seams.

Fabric A (background):
(4) 1 1/2" sq.(*)
(1) 1 1/2 x 2 1/2" (**)
(2) 2" sq. (#)
(1) 2 x 4"
(1) 2 x 5"
(1) 2 x 8 1/2"
(2) 2 1/2 x 4"

Fabric B (body):
(1) 1 1/2 x 2 1/2" (**)
(1) 1 1/2 x 3 1/2" (***)
(1) 2 x 3 1/2"
(2) 2 1/2" sq. (##)
(1) 3 1/2 x 5"

Fabric C (beak):
(1) 1 1/2" sq. (*)

Double Upper Corners

1. Place a square at the left end or left upper corner of a rectangle or larger square, right sides together.
2. Stitch from right upper to left lower corner.
3. Clip, flip & press.
4. Place a square at the right end or right upper corner of a rectangle or larger square, right sides together.
5. Stitch from left upper corner to right lower corner.
6. Clip, flip & press.

~Using above method, (2) 1 1/2" sq. of Fabric A, a 1 1/2 x 3 1/2" rect. of Fabric B-long edge at the top, make one double upper corner clip & flip unit.

~Repeat using (2) 2 1/2" sq. of Fabric B, and a 2 1/2 x 4" rect. of Fabric A-long edge at the top. NOTE: clip & flip the first corner before stitching the second corner because they will overlap at the top point.

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Right Lower Clip & Flip

1. Place square at lower end or right lower corner of rectangle or larger square, right sides together.

2. Stitch from right upper to left lower corner.

3. Clip, flip & press.

~Using above method, a 1 1/2" sq. of Fabric C and a 1 1/2 x 2 1/2" rect. of Fabric A-short edge at the top, make one right lower clip & flip unit.

~Repeat using 1 1/2" sq. of Fabric A and 3 1/2 x 5" rect. of Fabric B-short edge at the top.

====================

Left Upper/Right Lower Double

1. Place a square at the left end or upper left corner of a rectangle or larger square, right sides together.
2. Stitch from right upper corner to left lower corner.
3. Clip, flip & press.
4. Place a square at the right end or lower right corner of a rectangle or larger square, right sides together.
5. Stitch from right upper corner to left lower corner.
6. Clip, flip & press.

~Using above method, (2) 2" sq. of Fabric A and a 2 x 3 1/2" rect. of Fabric B-long edge at the top, make one left upper/right lower corner clip & flip unit.

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Assemble block as shown below and you'll have an 8 1/2" (8" finished) Cardinal. Or bird of your choice depending on which scraps you choose.

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Here's how my block turned out, using mostly some batik scraps.

And here's a pic of my National Days scrap blocks so far. (Stay tuned in the near future for my favorite block so far, I think, creativity-wise. It's really fun.. I just have to make sure and find the right scraps for it.)

If you're just finding these blocks, this is going to be my 2020 scrap project. I started it in November, I think. Designing and stitching 8" scrap blocks based on various National Days. My goal is 144 blocks for a king size quilt for our bed. I'm linking all of the posts/tutorials on the National Days page *HERE*. If you decide to try any of them, I'd love to see! Feel free to email me a pic or tag me on IG @kellifanninquilts. I'm posting them with the hashtag #nationaldaysquiltblocks.

Have a great week, & Happy Stitching!

xoxo

2 comments...:

Lori Smanski said...

Thank you for this sweet block. I live in Illinois and this is our state bird. I love feeding them and watching them all year. This bird will be a sweet addition to a table runner I am thinking of making. I love all your block of the days you are making. It will make a wonderful quilt. Thank you for sharing all the tutorials quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

January 6, 2020 at 6:20 AM