"QUEEN MARY'S GARDEN" © 2024 - "A Predatory Bird, Large and in Charge"

Property predatory birds, yeah, we got 'em.  We live on part of the Hawk Pride Mountain range(?) in extreme northwest Alabama (more like a molehill really, but it is on the map as such).

This is Proud Mary.  She's a killer, but this predator in our backyard valley has a sweet side...occasionally.  No giggling, Sue.  There are swarms of them soaring on the hot air thermals (again, remember we are on a molehill trying to BE a mountain).

Every now and then she likes to dive bomb toward her earthbound prey, only to let up at the last minute.  

She thinks that is h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s!!!

If she wasn't so absolutely cruel and terrifying, I would bare my little feathered chest and look vulnerable just to get an up-close look.  But that greatly increases my odds of getting maimed.  All of these potential killers look exactly alike!  But there is no hope in Hell or Heaven that she can lift me and fly away.  Ha!

Even though most my feather color palette is completely absurd, I've been trying to use fabrics for bird bodies, feet, and some wings that actually look like bird parts.  I've been collecting small pieces of tone-on-tone possibilities for a long time. Here are a few of my favorites.

Swirly... 

Feathery...

Grassy...

Occasionally, a fabric line will come out with pieces depicting shingles, tiles, stones, and bricks that are appropriately vague enough to pass as bird bodies.

Stoney...

Spotty, woody, geometric, woven, animal, ordinary...

I like to use a funky tone-on-tone fabric instead of a solid.  It creates movement across the quilt, snatching the eye from motif to motif.

This next little fellow just has Short Stack written all over him (yes, that is his name).  He just looks delicious, in a jelly bean, Trix Cereal, breakfast pancake kind of way.  Haven't seen one?  That's because he is so small...and mute, maybe too quiet to be nibbled.

Mr. Fabulous is below.   He is very showy in all the wrong places.  This beaky fellow has a loud, braggadocious call, hence a short lifespan. 

This is a Gerbera Sparrow and she is why I can't grow daisies on the property.  The blooms disappear before I ever see them.  Bad birdie!

While waiting for inspiration worthy of blog posting, I managed to catch up with a few things.  

I love brite and scrappy!  These 4-inch blocks, with no internal matching seams, are one of my easy 'therapy projects.'  I can't help but feel sunny when I play with brites, blacks, and whites.  I have a lot of pieces cut and ready to go when there's a cloud hanging over me.

I can just stop when I feel that enough is enough.  The setting I have in mind works with any number of blocks finished.  It's not a race.

We enjoyed theater in Atlanta with our daughter playing the cruel school matron, Ms. Trunchbull, in "Matilda, the Musical."  Who knew she was raised to act so mean and nasty?

I prepared my initials and year of completion for "Queen Mary's Garden."  Of course it wasn't quilted in 2024, but finishing the top was close enough for me.

I spent a lot of time with my fabulous Aunt Katrina who will be 97 years young in October.

I worked on some pieced utility quilts for nieces and nephews...waaaay overdue.

Until next time, beware of Proud Mary!!

Teresa - - - - - -