Garden of Birds Embroidery made by Ann Haley. Designed by Robin Kingsley from the book Little Birds.

Ann Haley is one of our technical editors. She always has one project or another (or two or three) going. Here’s an idea we loved when we heard it. To quote Ann:

Portable projects seem to be the only thing I can accomplish in my creative life these days, so when I saw Robin Kingsley’s redwork project, Garden of Birds Embroidery, in the book Little Birds, I thought it would be fun. Robin turned her embroidery into an absolutely adorable pillow, but I had another idea.

Robin Kingsley’s redwork project, Garden of Birds Embroidery, in the book Little Birds

You see, I adore blue and have longed to make a blue and white quilt for nearly 20 years. Have I made one yet? No, but I do have an impressive collection of blue and white fabrics! Several years ago I decided to construct a practice block in blue and white for each quilt I make. It’s great because I love working with these colors and, if I mistakenly cut a piece the wrong size, I haven’t wasted any of the fabric required for the project. Working a block in a monochromatic scheme also forces me to look at the most effective value placement.

Robin’s project instructions even showed me how to set the color, so the embroidery would be washable. Violá, I have another block for my first blue and white quilt . . . someday.

Ann's collection of blue and white blocks