theme day: wing

I made this quilt a few years ago for my friend j's daughter who was starting college far from home. a few years before this I made a wall hanging for j to celebrate her 50th birthday. j thought it would be nice if her daughter had a quilted wall hanging also to commemorate this rite of passage - leaving home and starting college. my friend is a wonderful parent and when she asked me to make a quilt for her daughter the first thing that came to mind is that saying about good parents give their children both roots and wings....

I thought wings and birds in flight was fittingly symbolic. I designed a quilt with 4 birds flying off in what I thought were the cardinal directions and the triangle border is the tradition flying geese pattern. the center is bordered with a fabric of more winged creatures - butterflies!

rainbow fish II

the rainbow fish quilt is completed and ready for delivery! it's was quite fun to create. the quilt is machine pieced and hand-stitched. the center fish panel has stitching that resembles seaweed and along the border is a little fishy song (words below).

the overall quilt measure approximately 39" by 49" - there are three different size fishes in the quilt. for this quilt the squares were 3" 2 1/2 inches and 2" and half squares cut in a manner to have a finished square that corresponds.

the size of the fish can be customized depending on your overall plan. each fish is made of one square of fabric plus 3 squares of half triangles.

detail of quilt showing a peek at the back. the baby this quilt is for will be born in the chinese year of the rat (or mouse) so the middle starry panel is surrounded by two borders - one of small happy mice and a border of black and white check fabric.

the song - which can be sung to baby to the tune of "I'm a little teapot"

I'm a little fishy
watch me swim
Here is my tail
Here is my fin
When I want to have fun with my friends
I wiggle my tail an dive right in