In Flight Mobile tutorial and PDF

After making the baby quilt, there were 18 charm squares left from the three packs used on the quilt top.  Just enough to make a fun little mobile for above the crib.  I went through a few sketches of how I wanted the mobile to look.  In the end, I came up with a topsy-turvy free-flight kind of thing.  I wanted the rings to resemble tree limbs, but I’m not so sure the “twigs” reflect that.  Oh, well.  I still really like the finished project.And if you do, too, here is how I did it.  Click on the button bellow to download the bird template PDF.

Materials:
-18 5*5 inch fabric squares in coordinating patterns and colors
-Batting
-Metal rings in descending sizes from 14 inch or so diameter down to four.  Give or take.  I threw away the tags.  Sorry.  You can find the rings at a craft store.  They were by the mirrors at my local store.
-Two 1/4 inch round wooden dowels
-Duct tape
-Yarn
-Fishing line
-Glue Gun
-hook for hanging
-PDF bird template

Begin by coordinating your fabric squares.  You’ll need two for each bird, so mix and match as you want. 
Cut out template.On wrong side of each square, trace the bird body and the bird wing.  You’re going to be using the contrasting fabric’s wing for the body, so you want the traced wing to lay opposite on the fabric than the body.  See above picture.
Also, see above picture to note how I messed up the first time I traced the wing.

So you’ll have pieces like below for each bird
Take each wing and stitch 1/8-1/4 inch away from the raw edge all the way aroundTake contrasting wing and sew, using zig-zag stitch at the flat end, onto body of each bird body pieceWrong sides together, match each winged-body’s raw edgesBeing careful to keep wings out of the stitch lines as you go, sew around the body of the bird, leaving 1.5 to 2 inch gap at the bottomStuff with batting through open gap.  Make sure to get the tail and beak.Stitch the bottom gap closedRepeat for all 18 squares, making nine finished birds.
I wanted my edges to fray, so I threw the birds in with my laundry.  I had to iron things out afterwards. 

Now let’s work on the twiggy ring things. 

Break the wooden dowels at an angle.  Making really sharp sticks.  Perfect for any baby’s room!Using the duct tape, secure to the outside of rings at random spacing.Now take the yarnTie a knot to the ringAnd start wrappingI found that it was the least stabby to wrap the sharp sticks first.  After they were wrapped, and no longer threatening the jab into my flesh, I was able to move around the metal ring much faster.At the ends of each “twig”, secure the yarn with some hot glue.  This picture actually looks far more messy than things looked in real life.  It was overcast, and I had to use my flash.  I’m blaming that.After wrapping each ring completely, grab your hook and fishing line.  Also, it’s MUCH easier to recruit an assistant for this part.Tie three strands of fishing line to the smallest ring.  The strands need to be about three foot each for now.
Have your lovely assistant hold the hooked ring up for you while you tie the other rings to the strands.  I went from largest to smallest ring.  Don’t worry too much about keeping things even when tying.  You’ll get a fun topsy-turvy look if you kind of just let the rings do their own thing and don’t get picky about equal distances and whatnot.
Clip the ends of the thread after the last ring is tied on.Now thread fishing line through the backs of each bird.  I cut my fishing line strands about eight to ten inches longPull fishing line through the birds And, while your assistant holds the mobile up for you, tie to the rings.
I tied four birds to the top ring, three to the middle, and two to the bottom.

Hang and admire!