Birds of Paradise
 

This hand pieced, hand quilted quilt took me 9 months to complete. It's on a queen size bed in the photo, but it might fit on top of a king size bed. Each block has 17 pieces and 8 curved seams. The quilting is mostly next to the curved seams so the back echos the blocks on the front.


It was the most challenging quilt I've ever made, and although it didn't turn out quite as I had envisioned, I'm satisfied that I learned to sew curved seams! The selection of fabrics was difficult because I had to think of the brightness, the colour tone, and the scale of the print, in relation to the other fabrics in the block and those in adjoining blocks. It was a stash-buster, so I didn't allow myself to buy any new fabrics for this one.


My best friend (of 38 years) will be retiring soon, so this is a gift for her.


I hope you enjoy looking at it.
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Magnificent gift!

Very thoughtful and she will be very happy with her gift. Your work is awesome!

What a stunning quilt. I love how you gradated your fabric choices from light at the top to dark at the bottom. You must work fast to complete a hand pieced and hand quilted quilt of that size in only 9 months! What a fabulous gift for your bestie.

Fantastic job

Wow! So beautiful and unusual. Love the flow-y shapes and beautiful colors!

Just stunning! Your fabric choices & color placement is wonderful.

Absolutely magnificent!

What a stunning quilt! You did a magnificent job. I love your color choices and how it flows from dark to light. Just beautiful!

You met your challenge and then some I am sure, it is one big beautiful quilt.

Exceptional Quilt! You did a wonderful job on it, she will be thrilled.

very pretty, I've never seen that pattern before

Beautiful quilt! I am so impressed with your hand piecing and hand quilting!

A labor of love and an excellent gift!

Beautiful!

Beautiful quilt.

beautiful work!

The original design, called "Father's Whistle", is by Chungsu Lee. I don't know if a pattern is available, but you can see it online (just go to Google) . I made my own pattern from the image online.

That is amazing!!! a true labor of love for your friend!

That's a beautiful quilt. I'm sure your friend will be so happy with it.

Wow, and in just 9 months...great job.

A fabulous gift for your special friend!

Beautiful gift!

ditto, feline fanatic!

Beautiful. BrendaK

What a gift! Your fingers must have been flying like the wind!

Wow! It's so Unique! Beautiful! Stunning! Love it! Well done! thanks for sharing

You put a lot of thought and work into this quilt and it shows. It is just a wonderful looking quilt and a stash buster to boot.

A very pretty quilt!

You made the pattern and hand-pieced and hand-quilted the entire quilt! Amazing! It is absolutely beautiful. What a gift for your friend!

I am very impressed with your work! This is a dramatically different, very appealing quilt; she will surely be stunned and pleased. :thumbup:

Jan in VA

Beautiful! Love the positioning of the colors.

Wow, what a lot of handwork and beautifully done...what a thoughtful gift.

Looks like it would be extremely difficult to make

Fabulous gift for a BFF. Love your fabric choices.

Beautiful quilt. Nice to hear somebody still does hand work.

Absolutely stunning! You should be very proud of yourself. Who ever gets it will be one lucky person.

You have done a beautiful job; the quilt is magnificent. What joy it will bring to your friend.

First, I must say that I admire anyone who can hand piece. That is terrific! Your colors are great and the pattern is adorable. Thanks for showing us.

What a beautiful quilt! I admire you for doing it all by hand.