Hello everyone!  I'm excited to present my entry into the "Original Design" category of the Spring 2014 Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side. 
Meet Redbird and Berries - an original design and tutorial created earlier this year for the Moda Bake Shop.  

Download the free Redbird and Berries PDF from the Moda Bake Shop or from my Craftsy pattern store.

Redbird and Berries was inspired by my love of Songbirds -- especially the Northern Cardinal.
You see, my mom passed 10 years ago and since then I've felt a special connection to the beautiful Northern Cardinals that continually cross my path. 

I feel my interactions with them sometimes include small, yet meaningful, messages from my mom.

Even the name of my blog reflects my love of this precious little songbird.
If I'm driving a little too fast and a Cardinal flies in front of me, I *slow down*.
If I'm having a bad day and I hear the sound of the Male cardinal singing to his mate,
I *smile*.
Cardinals frequent our many bird feeders during the winter months and act as a daily reminder that my mothers love and guidance is always near.
To continue my obsession with the Northern Cardinal, in the fall of 2013 I participated in the "Wool Lovers Blog Hop" and created this darling little wool felt "Redbird" as my entry -- later I created a tutorial so you can make your own felted Redbird.  You can see the tutorial by clicking here.
So when I first laid eyes on the beautiful grunge fabric on the Moda / United Notions web site -- I knew I had to make something with it.  That red colored Grunge was perfect for a Redbird. 


I'm also big fan of anything Mackenzie Childs, so the rest of my inspiration came from the Mackenzie Childs "Courtly Check" pattern (Courtly Check is a registered trademark of MacKenzie-Childs) --  one of her very popular lines.

Here are two of my favorite Courtly Check pieces by Mackenzie-Childs.   Isn't that ring dish sweet?  I keep waiting for it drop in my lap... I'm afraid $185 is a bit out of my price range!
Image from MacKenzie-Childs.com
To mock that beautiful Checkerboard border I found the sweet line "Little Black Dress 2" by BasicGrey for Moda. 

The rest is history - I sent a proposal to the lovely team at the Moda Bake Shop and they graciously accepted.

The fabric (once available) magically shows up on the doorstep and, after a few weeks of  pulling my hair out fussing, the result is "Redbird and Berries - Mini Quilt" recipe on the Moda Bake Shop (click here to see it).
If you've decided to download and make Redbird and Berries -- be sure to check out the special Redbird Mask and Beak tutorial by clicking here.

Redbird and Berries Mini Quilt
An Original Design by Karen L. Miller 
for the Moda Bake Shop
Size:  22" x 30"
Hand Appliqued & Machine Pieced 
Machine Quilted on my Domestic Machine 
Awesome Aurifil Mako 50wt Thread
for applique, piecing and quilting!

I hope you get a chance to hop over to Amy's and view all of the fantastic quilts on display.  

Voting begins May 23rd.  You'll find "Redbird and Berries" in the "Original Design Quilts" category.  

There is also "Viewers Choice" voting -- be sure to nominate your favorite "Viewers Choice" quilt here by May 23rd.

As always -- thanks for your continued support and encouragement!

Hugs,
Karen