Winged Blog Tour: Flight Quilt

Welcome to Day 7 of the Winged Blog Tour .  I feel like one lucky girl to have this opportunity!  This blog tour celebrates the beautiful Winged fabric collection , designed by Bonnie Christine of Going Home To Roost .  There have been some fun and creative things made so far, including the lovely tote yesterday at May Chappell .

Bonnie’s fabrics have been among my favorites since the release of her first collection, Reminisce.  I made my Scrappy Hunter’s Star quilt from that line, and you can find my Sweet as Honey Hexagon Beehive mini quilt here.
This new Winged collection is no different.  The colors are vibrant and beautiful and the designs have a lot of movement to them, which made sewing with them a delight.

With that, let me introduce you to my Flight Quilt:


I have always loved watching birds.  Not only are they beautiful, but they inspire in me a sense of potential.   Most of them are small and fragile, yet when they take flight they seem capable of anything.  They remind me that I, too, can do great things.  Even before I saw the fabrics in Bonnie’s collection, I loved what she had to say about them:

“this feeling of spreading one’s great wings and soaring is one that connects with me deeply. a long time ago i decided that i would pursue my dreams no matter what. i would make great sacrifices, journey into the unknown put my heart and soul on the line to live my creative dream.

that is what winged is about.

spreading your wings and flying into the unknown.
”  – Bonnie Forkner Her words resonate with me, as this theme has been much on my mind in recent months.  I believe her fabrics capture this idea beautifully and I wanted to sew something that would elevate my thoughts and remind me of my own potential – of the potential within each one of us.


As I explored ideas for sewing with these fabrics I was drawn to the traditional circling sparrows block.   The problem was, most of them are quite small, designed for English Paper Piecing, or requiring a lot of Y seams.  I wanted to showcase the beautiful prints with a larger block and simpler construction, so I drafted a foundation piecing pattern that worked with my vision.   Each of the blocks in this quilt are 26 inches square, so they are big and beautiful and allow each fabric to shine!


To unify the blocks I quilted the quilt in a spiral, lines about 1/2 inch apart.  This was my first time quilting this style and I enjoyed it immensely.  The spiral echoes the circling pattern of the “sparrows” in each block without competing with the fabrics.  The finished quilt measures approximately 52 inches square.


The quilt back is a vintage sheet I purchased a while ago.  The birds sitting among blossom-covered branches were the perfect compliment to the quilt top, and the colors a great match!


As the weather turns cold and blustery, these fabrics bring cheer to my heart.


The green flyaway petalums print makes a perfect binding for this quilt.




These photos may be my favorites; I love the cute little fingers of my daughter peeking over the edge of the bench.  She was so patient while I took photos, but was definitely feeling done by this point!


As I was taking these pictures a bird lighted on a branch in the tree above.  The words of Victor Hugo came to mind:

“Be like the bird, Who Halting in his flight On limb too slight Feels it give way beneath him, Yet sings Knowing he hath wings.”

My wish today is that all of us will spread our wings, rejoice in the abilities we have, and soar a little higher.

”


Many thanks to Bonnie for putting together this blog tour!  I’ve been hopping along with the schedule and seen some beautiful things.  Tomorrow’s stop will be with Jessica at Snickerdoodle Stew and I’m sure she’s got something awesome ready!

Thanks for visiting!
Jennifer