"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 my version of  Pride Mountain Hawk (no giggling, Sue).  There are swarms of them soaring on the air thermals over our canyon (again, remember we are on a molehill).

If our hawks were this colorful, I would bare my little feathered chest and look vulnerable just to get an up-close look.

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 Snack written all over him (yes, that is his name).  He just looks delicious, in a jelly bean kind of way.  Haven't seen one?  That's because they are so small...and mute, maybe. 

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. 

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 Pride Mountain Hawks!

Teresa - - - - - -