Wall Hanging 2022 - NO LONGER

[Acorn]

Yes - if it's one or two I leave them be, but when there's a whole flock I give them two minutes and then knock on the window - fortunately they tend to go right away, whereas the little birds will just retreat to a bush and wait a few minutes.  The starlings can empty three feeders in a few hours.

I think the fence was well worth the effort (I know, easy for me to say!) because it is really effective.

[Lachica]

@Acorn  your starlings' cousins are in our garden! We've had to buy new feeders with cages around them as the small birds weren't getting a look in. The starlings are still able to get their heads through the mesh but they can only get what has fallen from the seed tube and not hoover up the lot. Bluetits have taken a while to realise they can pop through the cage & feed without being harassed.

[realale]

We laugh so much at the starlings in our garden, likening them to EastEnders or other soaps I don't watch. They fly in, all full of bravado and self importance, squabble amongst themselves, create a great deal of drama then fly off to repeat same elsewhere. Each one is a prima Donna. The sparrows seem so refined after them!! 

[rubywishes]

@Diane , your fence just looks absolutely brilliant, your placement of the lines is way more precise than I would do!


These days I do all my placement of pieces using my shadow box; I sit the piece of fabric on the paper and flip it over including the imaginary 1/4' seam. If I don't use the shadow box I inevitably cut pieces just a little too small, wrong orientation or off angle.

[Diane]

What an absolute nightmare  i've given up...her stupid pattern isn't correct, the paper pieces are different to her picture, some have more numbers than they should have. I've spent several hours on this and it's now winding me up. I've emailed her on Et*y with an attached picture detailing all of her errors, lets see what she has to say.

Whoever said FPP is the work of the  is absolutely right especially when your dealing with such tiny pieces.
FPP is now on the naughty list and that's where it will stay.

Back to proper quilting or maybe some applique..........i'm not in a good mood 

[mudcat]

That's too bad it didn't work out @Diane

I tried FPP 20 some years ago and didn't even make one small block. I found it quite tedious.  And not very fast compared to regular piecing. 

Maybe consider some of those fun applique animals that @Sandra is doing.  That should cheer you up.

[Sandra]

Oh, no @Diane  that's such a shame after you'd got on so well with the hot air balloon. I was looking forward to seeing this progress throughout the year. 

Sandra.
xxx

[Diane]

@mudcat @Sandra
I’m so annoyed especially after ordering the fabric from the USA. I’ve triple checked all my piecing and I’ve definitely not done it wrong, her pattern has so many discrepancies.

I’m still going to do a wall hanging based around the garden but I’m going to do appliqué instead. I’ll have a look this evening as I’ve bookmarked lots of ideas over the past year.

[Celia]

I have just spent the afternoon doing @Sandra s cat block and while I was looking on line I saw this and thought of you, I didn’t post it because I thought you were all set with your pattern but maybe you would like to look at this. https://shop.shinyhappyworld.com/products/backyard-birds-a-mix-match-applique-quilt-pattern

[Bumblebuncher]

@Diane i like your thinking!
You are not giving up, you are adapting a bad situation to make it workable 
BB

[Sandra]

I'm not surprised you're annoyed. I would be too. A lot of time and effort for bugger all.

Ooooh.... @Celia  Pleased to hear you've tried the cat block. They're easy to do aren't they? (Once you've decided what fabric to use. The fabric always takes me ages to choose.)

Sandra.
xxx

[Diane]

@Celia Thanks for the link, I’ve bookmarked that, it may come in handy later on.

[Lowena]

So sorry @Diane  and.....I won't say "I told you so " ...but.....
Utilise your lovely new fabric in a proper quilt and you'll soon fall in love with TDS again 

[Diane]

I don’t dislike FPP and I’d certainly do another cushion, it’s when the pieces are so tiny along with a rubbish pattern it doesn’t help.

[Iminei]

Oh I am sorry @Diane  but when I saw the tiny pieces I began to fear for your soul ...

BUT why dont you do the same idea in Applique?

There are a  ton of bird images/silhouettes on t'internet to print off and copy, you could add embellishments or french knots  for eyes ....  ?????