Making 'Terry Birds'

Terry Grant designed a pattern for some cute stuffed birds...the pattern was published in the Special Commemorative Edition of the International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene magazine that is in the bookstores right now...its a dilly of a price ($14.95!!) but I wanted the pattern for the birds, so I ponied up the bucks! There are a couple other cute patterns in the magazine that I might make too, so maybe it will amortize out..
The wings are supposed to be fused with heavy interfacing..but for my prototype bird I just used freezer paper!! I know the bird is not going to get washed, so it should be fairly safe! On the prototype bird, the beak did not turn out quite right..it's a bit off center (gives Mr Birdy a bit of personality!)..And I did not have any wire to make the armature for the legs that allows the bird to stand..so he just has a bit of fleece for wee feet peeking out at the bottom.

I ventured out early on Black Friday to get some wire and the brown floral tape to make the legs..then spent at least half an hour arguing with the wire but it finally was pliered into submission..and as you can see in the picture, the Blue Bird does stand - so..it must be close to right! If I end up making a few more of these - and I probably will  - I think I will build a jig for the feet.. The bird goes together pretty quickly after the legs are made and all the pieces cut out  - 'stash diving' and deciding on just which pieces of fabric to use can take up a bit of time though...'Oh look..that one is really cool..but this one is even cooler..no wait..THIS is the perfect combo'.

The standing bird was made as a present for my Mom, who loves fat birds (she is the reason I wanted to make this pattern) When I showed her the prototype..she thought the two birds together looked really cute..so they both are living on her kitchen counter!

I have some lovely batiks picked out for the next bird!