Summer Lovin' with Michael Miller's Love Nest Fabrics

The products featured in this post were provided by Michael Miller Fabrics as part of being a Michael Miller Brand Ambassador

For my June Summer Lovin' project, I had the opportunity to combine the Love Nest fabric collection, featuring cheerful flowers and birds, with some free-motion quilting fun.

Last week, I took a fabulous workshop through my guild:  Sandra Bruce's ABCs of Stitching Words.  I spent the day stitching out samples of my name, the alphabet, the classic "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" phrase (which utilizes each letter of the alphabet), and playing with some text doodles...and ultimately finding my quilting mojo!!

Text Samplers

Halfway through the workshop, my mind was spinning with ideas for incorporating free-motion quilted text messages into my Michael Miller project.  My preparations began with researching a variety of uplifting quotes related to love, nature, flowers, gardening, birds, and flight.  While I percolated over which quotes I would use, I fused some Pellon Wonder Under 805 onto the back of the Love Nest bird print and For the Birds flower print.

Fused Applique Prepwork

Once the fusible cooled, I removed the paper backing and used my Karen Kay Buckley Medium 6" serrated scissors to carefully cut out each of the bird and flower motifs for use in my project.

Selectivey Snipping

Now it was time to play with compositions that showcased the selected quotes and Love Nest fabrics.  Once I got started, it was hard to stop, and soon my project evolved into five miniature quilts, each featuring a nature-inspired quote surrounded by one or more Love Nest prints and Michael Miller basics (Azure Cotton Couture solid and Black Garden Pindots).

The Birds and the Bees of Making Miniature Quilts

Each of the quotes was enlarged and printed on paper to use as both a placeholder in the layout process, as well as serve as a guide in the stitching.  Having the printed text taped below the area I was quilting helped me to space out the letters and words, remember spelling and order, while keeping each line of text straight and parallel.

Text Guide

I started by quilting out each quote using a dark navy 28wt to help the lettering really stand out.  A variety of 28 and 40wt threads were used to stitch out the major design elements (heart, clouds, leaves, stems, etc) with a blending 50wt used for the bulk of the background quilting.  Originally I had pulled a variety of colorful threads for use with the birds, flowers, leaves, and stems, but changed to mostly all black thread which gave it a more whimsical, sketched effect.  Below you can see the before and after quilting photos of each project.

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope." - Lady Bird Johnson (15" x 15")

"My heart is like a singing bird." - Christina Rossetti (14" x 14")

"Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace." - French Proverb (16" x 16")

"It is a bird's imagination, not its wings, that determines how high it can fly." - Matshona Dhliwayo (13" x 14")

The black Garden Pindots circle below was leftover from my May Summer Fun Bullseye game and inspired a circle mini using bias binding.

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." - Vincent van Gogh (19" diameter)

I hope these projects inspire you to...
1.  Draw quilting inspiration from nature!!
2.  Visit your local quilt shop to pick up some Love Nest prints (the cool colorway is equally fun)
3.  Try incorporating some text into your next quilted project
4.  Take a walk outside and find beauty everwhere!

Check back in July for some Holiday Cheer, as I will be playing with their new Home for the Holidays fabric collection.