Bogong Bower

Nearly two and a half years ago, Adds flew into Adelaide to join me at a workshop with Kellie from Don't Look Now. In that we had a starter exercise, and then a bigger project. While I liked both of mine, I ran out of enthusiasm for finishing them; partly due to other deadlines, but mostly because in my heart, I hate to use others' designs (even if I love the designs themselves). Yes, I should've thought about that!!! Anyway, I'd almost finished the starter exercise; it was fully quilted, even trimmed, and I had the binding fabric all chosen. But there it sat.

Before the weekend I wanted an extra project to take with me in case I finished the others (ha, I always take too many!) or wanted something different. I found this, and took it. Not surprisingly, I didn't touch it, but yesterday while binding my current quilt, I did this as well. An hour or so and it was done:

I've called my quilt Bogong Bower, because after making my bird blue, it really reminded me of a Satin Bowerbird in its bower. Male satin bowerbirds are a gorgeous, satin-y, iridescent dark blue, and they collect blue things (bottle lids, straws, feathers, paper scraps...) to decorate their bowers to attract a mate.

Before we started staying right in the snow on our annual skiing trips, for several years we stayed half-way up the mountain, in Bogong Village, where we'd see lots of satin bowerbirds (and other birds). We'd often put out a seed feeder, and they'd be on the lawn right outside our window, and they'd let us get pretty close.

(me with male & female satin bowerbirds and currawongs, Bogong, July 1992)

I gave my quilt a border by quilting contrast swirls, then subtly emphasised this by quilting the tight spirals outside the 'border' using a pale pink thread, rather than the white quilting used in the centre. The binding fabric is covered in tiny swirls very similar to the quilted ones.

Having finished this quilt, I will make an effort to finish the main project from the class. I love the fabrics I chose, and it will be a much more enjoyable project with my 820 (without the constant thread breaks, skipped stitches and birds' nests I had on the Pfaff).