I started this art piece, in the evening, on the very last day of the May, 2016 retreat. Present at the time were my new friends Barb M and our world famous teacher, Rayna Gillman. All the other students had already gone home.

Looking around the room it was kind of sad to see it almost empty. Only hours before the other workstations had been filled with activity. All that was left of that commotion now was the splattering of fabric strewn about on the carpeted floor. It looked like an explosion of fabric scraps had taken place.

Rayna and Barb were both engrossed in their own projects. I was on a mission to create one last art quilt. My mood was quite playful so I felt the urge to reflect that sentiment in this new piece.

To get my masterpiece started I began pulling the loudest pieces of fabric I could find. I felt like a kid using a box of brand new crayons. I couldn’t wait to use every single one to paint my new picture. No fabric, no matter how wild it might be, was automatically dismissed. One by one they all had their chance to audition.

This activity went completely unnoticed by my partners. That’s probably a good thing because I’m certain there was a devilish smirk on my face. Not being alert to my activity meant I didn’t have to explain my mood.

As you look at this piece you may see remnants of my other works. Some of them are so tiny that it’s difficult to trace them to their parent while others are huge pieces sliced from their original grouping and left as is. By the time the evening was over I had made huge progress on my piece. While I wasn’t ready to declare it finished I was pretty darn close.

After unpacking and displaying my almost finished art quilt on my design wall I felt the enthusiasm of that evening return. How awesome to have such fond memories.

During my push to bring to fruition my stack of unfinished art quilts this item received it’s much deserved attention. Here’s what I had to work with.

You can see there were a few areas that needed filling in. Especially along the top left and right corners. The strips of fabric at the bottom and the unit along the left side had not yet been stitched to the main piece.

My original intention for this quilt was to turn it into a house; leaving the angled top as is. But by now my feelings had changed. I decided to cut the majority of the rooftop off. The space left by the removed roof would be filled in with other fabrics.

Included below is a photo of the quilt as it is today.

I think I will wait a bit longer to make certain there are no other changes to be made. I want to be totally satisfied with it’s outcome before proceeding with the finishing touches.

If you look in the center of the art quilt you will see a white bird. This white bird was the inspiration for naming my project. I call it Bird House. As the piece stands now it measures 25 1/4″ x 20 3/4″.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Cindy Anderson