The Bird Life Quilt by Ruby McKim

The Bird Life Quilt, by Ruby Short McKim, was originally published in the 1920's in a series of newspaper patterns. The pattern consists of 24 bird designs. You will receive the complete set plus bonus items below.

Each pattern will be some favorite bird friend designed to fit into a 9-inch square of muslin quilt fabric. As a special naturalistic color scheme will be given each time, you will have no difficulty in embroidering them; the work is mostly outline stitch with some wings and tails blanket-stitched to make feathery edge. The design is suitable for redwork embroidery, embroidery with colored threads, or other methods such as coloring and fabric painting.

When you are ready to make a square, print it out and transfer it with a transfer pen or pencil. Another transfer method is to use a light box and trace design directly onto fabric with a water-soluble pen. Other methods are available, and you can choose the one that suits your style best. The original pattern calls for transfer by using carbon paper and a sharp pencil to mark your fabric.

(1) Pattern - Black and white Adobe pdf scan (for a cheap and scale original reproduction)
(2) Full color scan of newspaper originals (printed in black and white - now aged yellow)
(3) JPG - patterns reproduced in photo format so you can easily resize
(4) And... just for fun... some 1927s children newspaper article scans featuring birds.
Included: Baltimore Oriole, Belted Kingfisher, Brown Thrasher,
Cedar Waxing, Nighthawk, Ruffled Grouse, Towhee or Chewink

A classic vintage quilt pattern - the Audubon or Bird Life Quilt by Ruby McKim. This was a series of patterns originally published in the 1928 in the Kansas City Star newspaper.

This pattern was published in other newspapers also. The patterns were featured in the Girls' Corner section of Our Boys and Girls - a Brethern Publishing House, Elgin, Illinois publication. The publication dates are from Jan. 12, 1929 to May 25, 1929.

The Bird Life quilt here shows the arrangement of the quilt blocks. Each pattern is of some favorite bird friend designed to fit into a 9-inch square of fabric.

The twenty-four birds, running from the top and from left to right, are: Robin, jay, humming bird, wren, owl, dove, parrot, whippoorwill, woodpecker, oriole, swallow, blue bird, crow, chickadee, quail, cardinal, flamingo, stork, duck, kingfisher, eagle, pelican, penguin, and gull.

When you are ready to make a square, print it out and trace the design directly onto your fabric, using the method which suits your style best. Per the original pattern: Fold the pattern to determine the center and slip a piece of carbon paper underneath - the sticky side facing the material - and trace the pattern carefully with a very well pointed pencil.

Today you can also use an inexpensive transfer pen available in sewing and craft stores. To aid in tracing you can use a quilting light box, or well-lit window as women of previous generations did.

The Audubon or Bird Life Quilt. Generally the pattern was published with the title Bird Life: