Mystery Quilt Along (QAL) Clue # 4

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Sarah touched the quilt gingerly. She remembered seeing her grandmother sewing when she was younger. When she and her brother would come to visit overnight, they would sleep in the extra room where her grandmother kept her sewing machine. There were many nights when Daniel would lie in the small daybed, covered with one of her quilts. Sarah usually slept below in the trundle bed that was pulled out. Outside the wind would be blowing hard and the window of the old house seemed to rattle, keeping Sarah on edge, so she would peek beneath her quilt and watch her grandmother sew.

Grandma made all sorts of things. She sewed pillows for her worn sofa out of old upholstery samples. She sewed curtains for the kitchen using bright yellow gingham with chickens embroidered on them. She even made them matching sailor suits which Sarah's mother made them wear for pictures, but were quickly relegated to the bottom of their closets. But mostly she sewed quilts. Sarah would hear the humming of the sewing machine until she finally fell asleep.

Sarah took the quilt and headed toward the kitchen. Outside the wind picked up just as it had when she was younger. As she looked outside the window, she saw a flock of swallows flying in formation. They seemed to spin and dive through the overcast sky, darting through the wind like dark winged angels.

Clue #4 – Flying geese. You must recreate the birds flying using a Flying Geese motive. You can use a regular traditional flying geese pattern, or a modern improv pattern. Make sure to leave some space in your sky so that the birds can fly away!

Here are a few links:


Improv flying geese from Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

"Starlings" flying in formation.

Movement of geese-type pieces.

Wonky flying geese?

Diagonal geese flying away!

And of course, if you want to make a flock of cranes, be my guest!