I just finished this 40" x 40" wallhanging top made up of 7 folk art birds. I created the appliqued birds a couple of years ago and they sat in a file waiting for the right layout and design to finally come to mind. They just didn't belong in a traditional block set quilt and seem to enjoy flocking together on this nice warm brown background - each perched on their own leafy branch.
Does that branch resemble a boomerang to you? Just a little? The birds themselves are inspired by birds of New Zealand. I love all birds and when browsing those native to New Zealand, their names just stuck with me and so I started looking at photos and drawing up some of the cuter ones. My very favorite bird is the fairy tern/tara-iti. These appliques are just fun birds - not meant to look like the real bird necessarily; note the penguin is blue and white and not black and white - there are no blue penguins as far as I know!
The boomerangs are made from fabric which I tie dyed during a fun adult craft class at the Mercer Library led by Teresa Schmidt. Everyone dyed something different: tee shirts, socks, but I dyed fabric and loved the results. That fabric was also just waiting for the right time to get off the shelf and into a quilt.
I used the web site: www.nzbirds.com for my design inspiration. With permission, I have posted this quilt photo to my blog.
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