Flight Formation Quilt

Posted by on Jul 20, 2015 in Birds & The Bees, Blog, Quilts, Tutorials

Quilt Number 2!
When I first received yardage of BIRDS & THE BEES, the Bluejay colour story quickly inspired this quilt.

flight formation quilt - tamara kate

While I almost always have ideas of what I would like to sew while I am designing fabric, it usually takes having the finished yardage in hand for me to really be able to envision how I would like to use it. For this quilt, it was the intensity of the indigo alongside the jewel tones and soft white grounds that dictated direction. I simply wanted to play with colour in a dramatic way. I incorporated squares of Cotton Couture solids, some complementary, some contrasting, to break up all the pattern a bit and arranged everything in a strong “V” down the centre for impact. Even the simple quilting lines follow the “V” throughout, as does one’s eye, that then darts around catching little glimpses of a butterfly or flower here, a bird’s head or feather there…

flight formation quilt detail - tamara kate

For the binding I chose Baby the Stars Shine Bright in Navy which frames the quilt well, with little bright stars adding a happy, confetti-like feel.

flight formation quilt detail3 - tamara kate

There is a free downloadable tutorial on the Michael Miller website for this quilt, should you desire to whip one up yourself. Enjoy!

2 Comments

  1. Monique
    July 20, 2015

    Wow this is so beautiful. How long does it take you to whip up these quilts? One day I will have to try making a quilt for myself but I just don’t think I have the patience at the moment.

    • Tamara
      July 21, 2015

      Thanks Monique! They generally take a few days each (I tend to work in concentrated spurts & like to get projects completed), working relatively consistently, but some are a bit quicker & some a fair bit longer. I think it all depends on how clear one’s vision is from the get-go.
      I would say that when you have a few days free & feel up to it, pick a pattern and just start. It’s really not hard and it’s nice that you can come back to it when you feel the urge.