Wild Birds of Australia Finished Size: 49" x 15" A quilt by Momo Lohani Quilt Designed from 100% Cotton Aboriginal Designer Fabrics Manufactured by: M&S Textiles Australia 1
WILD BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA FINISHED BLOCK SIZE: 13.5" x 10"; FINISHED QUILT SIZE: 49" x 15" REQUIREMENTS Ruler: 1 x M&S Textiles fabric ruler Cutting Mat: 1 x M&S Textiles Fabric Cutting Mat Scissors: 1 pair x High Quality Fabric Scissors; 1 pair x High Quality Paper Scissors M & S Textiles Australia fabrics (44"/45" Wide): Block Background, Backing & Quilt Binding - 1.5 yards Sandhill Charcoal Block Border, Emu & Pelican - 1.5 yard Women's Business Gold Cockatoo - 1/4 yard Hunting & Gathering Red Batting: M&S 100% Cotton Batting with Scrim - 50" x 16" Threads: Americana quilting thread to blend with bird fabrics and Milford satin thread to contrast with background fabric. Fusible web of your choice or Mistyfuse. Embroidery hoop, optional. Step 1: CUTTING fabric for borders and bindings From Sandhill Black: 1. Cut a rectangle 16" x 50" for quilt backing. 2. Cut three 13.5" x 10" rectangles. These 3 pieces will form the block backgrounds. 3. Cut two 2" x 50" strips and two 2" x 16" strips for the quilt binding. From Women's Business Gold: 1. Cut 2 strips each 50 x 2 ½ for the top and bottom borders. 2. Cut four strips each 2 ½ x 10 1/2 for the block side borders. 3. Step 2: PREPARING the bird templates See pages 7, 8, and 9. Cut out the templates using good quality paper scissors. Please note that there are no seam allowances. If you wish to retain the original patterns trace or photocopy them. Step 3: PREPARING the bird patterns Cut a piece of the Pelican fabric (Women s Dreaming Gold) about 10 x 12 and a piece of fusible web about 1/4" smaller than the fabric. Centre the fusible web on the wrong side of the fabric and fuse in place according to the manufacturer s instructions. Place one paper template at a time on the right side of the fabric and use pen, white pencil or chalk to draw around the edges onto the fabric. Cut the fabric along these lines and you will have fabric shapes identical to the templates. If you do not wish to mark the fabric, pin the templates to it and cut the shapes directly. Carefully place the Pelican fabric shapes right side up on the right side of the background fabric (Sandhill Charcoal) leaving small spaces between them for decorative stitching. 2
Step 4: ATTACHING bird shapes to the block background Pin each shape in place as shown in Fig 1. The layout is shown on page 7. Carefully fuse the fabric shapes to the background fabric using a dabbing motion with the iron. See Fig 3. Fig 1. Pinning a shape to the background. Fig 2. Fig 3. Fusing shapes in their final position on the background. 3
Step 5: ADDING decorative stitching Wild Birds of Australia by Momo Lohani @ M&S Textiles Australia Hem stitch the fabric shapes to the block background using Americana Quilting thread. (Figs. 4 and 5.); use an embroidery hoop if desired. Sew a straight stitch border around each shape using Milford Satin thread as in Fig 5. Repeat Steps 1 to 5 to create the Cockatoo and Emu blocks. See pages 8 and 9. Fig 4. Hem stitching Fig 5. Pelican block showing straight stitch outlines. Step 6: ADDING the borders All seam allowances 1/4. See Fig 6. Machine stitch a 2 1/2" x 10 1/2 wide strip of Women's Business Gold fabric to both 10 sides of the Cockatoo block Sew a strip of the same fabric to the left hand side of the Pelican block and another to the right hand side of the Emu block. Stitch the blocks and borders side by side as shown in Fig 7. Fig 6. The three blocks with side borders added. Fig 7. Quilt top with top and bottom borders added Machine stitch the previously cut 50 x 2 1/2" wide strips of Women's Business Gold to the top and bottom edges of the quilt as shown in Fig 7. 4
Step 7: ASSEMBLING the quilt sandwich Wild Birds of Australia by Momo Lohani @ M&S Textiles Australia Sandhill Charcoal Fabric (backing, cut earlier) - wrong side up M&S 100% Cotton Batting with scrim right side up Quilt top - right side up Fig 8. Order of assembly for backing, batting and the quilt top. Working on a table assemble the layers as shown in Fig 8. smoothing away all creases as you go. Pin the three layers together. If necessary, trim the fabric and/or batting to make the edges of the quilt even. Step 8: QUILTING Very little quilting is required. Quilt the corners of the blocks as shown in Fig 10, or as you wish. Step 9: APPLYING the binding Take the two 50" x 2" strips and the two 16" x 2" strips of Sandhill Charcoal fabric cut earlier and place around the quilt top right sides together keeping the edges even. Machine stitch through all layers 1/4 from the edge of the quilt top. Trim any excess fabric, fold the binding evenly to the back of the quilt and secure with hem stitch. Fig 10. Finished quilt: Wild Birds of Australia by Momo Lohani Continued next page 5
ALTERNATIVE FORMATS WILD BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 1. The bird blocks may be made as separate small quilts, with or without borders. 2. The blocks may be assembled in vertical format. ALTERNATIVE FABRIC CHOICES OPTION A Block backgrounds: Untitled red by Nambooka Border: Bush Sultana charcoal by A. Napanangka Birds: Solid off white or ecru; may be enhanced with embroidery. OPTION B Block backgrounds: Untitled blue by Nambooka Border: Corroboree blue by Donna McNamara Birds: Solid colours lime green, gold and orange-red; may be enhanced with embroidery. 6
Pelican block fabric, Women s Business gold This diagram is for template identification only. Fabric layout and decorative stitching, Pelican block. 7
Cockatoo block fabric, Hunting and Gathering red This diagram is for template identification only. Fabric layout and decorative stitching, Cockatoo block 8
Emu block fabric, Women s Business gold This diagram is for template identification only. Fabric layout and decorative stitching, Emu block 9