Birdie Stitches Block #4

Well folks Spring is just around the corner and hopefully this little block will bring a little bit of Spring your way! =)  I had an idea to put up a gnarly, old block as an April Fool’s day joke but, I wasn’t sure how big that would go over–so you’re getting the real thing. =)  I remember in 4th grade my cousin and I played a fantastic(or so we thought) April Fool’s day joke on a boy in our class–it had to do with him receiving a letter informing him that he was going to have to be transferred to another school district.  We really had him going (we got our teacher to sign our letter–however, we couldn’t convince our principal) until he got to the part about the uniforms (for some reason he just didn’t believe the uniform he was going to have to wear, huh…who knew?!?). =p

Anyhoo, on to Block #4

Block Construction(All blocks will be constructed in the same manner):

Center square: 8.5″ square

 Border Squares: (20) 2.5″ squares

I like to assemble the block before doing the embroidery work–it’s just a little bit easier to hoop it up.  Sew together 2 sets of (4) 2.5″ squares–these strips will measure 8.5″long–sew one set to the top and bottom of the 8.5″ center square.  Sew the remaining 2.5″ squares into two sets of  6.  These will measure 12.5″ long–sew one strip on each side of the block.  And Voila! a 12.5″ square block all ready for embroidery.  You will find the embroidery pattern below in pdf format.

Birdie Stitches Block #4

A couple embroidery notes:  I used 3 strands of floss for all of the “egg” embroidery.  This pattern incorporates a simple back stitch and french knots.  Please note, as I used 6 strands of floss I only wrap the needle once for my french knots–I also only wrapped the needle once when making french knots on the eggs.  I used a water erasable marker to transfer the embroidery pattern onto my fabric–this was done after the block was assembled.

Enjoy!  As always be sure to add your finished blocks to the flickr group! =)

A little bit of extra news for today. =)  My Liberated Wedding Ring Quilt is being featured today on Quilt Story. =)

It’s such a neat site be sure to pop on over and take a peek!  Thanks so much Heather and Megan for featuring me again!! =)