Oceania Collection Blog Hop: Budgie Murmuration

Welcome to The Oceania Collection Blog Hop!  Here is Budgie Murmuration, my donation to the 2013 SAQA Benefit Auction and part of my Flying Colours Series inspired by the colour and movement of Australian parrots.  It is a mini version of Budgies Uncaged which is a finalist in the AQC Challenge 2013-FREE that is currently on tour.

  Like its larger sibling, Budgie Murmuration is based on some astonishing images of a massive swarm of budgies in Central Australia:

(This image was originally posted by Jim Bendon  http://flickr.com/photos/77524419@N03/7666617186 and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.)

I had a few left over stripe sets from my first project but a quick measure up showed I would need to create more for a nine-patch composition of 4in square “budgies”.  Fortunately, I have a good resource of my own hand-dyed fabrics to work with.

Here are some work-in-progress shots of the nine-patch. First you create rough units and work out a pleasing arrangement.  Then you sew them into rows, trimming them along the way.  Finally, you sew the rows together leaving a buffer allowance around the outside perimeter for shrinkage that occurs during quilting.

I like the texture created by intense linear stitching.  I use an open toed walking foot and line up the seam (or previous stitching line) with the inner edge of the foot.  Up-turn-along-turn-down-turn-along-turn-up – repeat as required.  This kind of stitching is much easier to manoeuvre when you are working in a 12×12 format!

I started in the middle and worked outwards, swapping out colours along the way.  Even on a small piece, there were lots of tails to bury by hand in front of TV.

For this work, I chose a mitred facing finish that is suitable for square or rectangular quilts.  (See my Mitred Facing Tutorial.)

For more inspiration, visit Averil Stuart-Head and Mel Forrest who have already shared their creations.  Coming up soon are Ruth de Vos  on 30 July and Ali George on 1 August.

You can also view all of the The Oceania Collection in the online gallery by clicking the image below:By the way, if you have been thinking about joining SAQA, you are welcome to use the discount code “BGS” to save 10% on your membership fee.  Join SAQA now.